Haven City Heroes havencitywiki https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page MediaWiki 1.40.2 first-letter Media Special Talk User User talk Haven City Heroes Haven City Heroes talk File File talk MediaWiki MediaWiki talk Template Template talk Help Help talk Category Category talk Module Module talk 0 1 1 2024-01-07T22:34:49Z MediaWiki default 1 Welcome to Miraheze! wikitext text/x-wiki __NOTOC__ == Welcome to {{SITENAME}}! == This Main Page was created automatically and it seems it hasn't been replaced yet. === For the bureaucrat(s) of this wiki === Hello, and welcome to your new wiki! Thank you for choosing Miraheze for the hosting of your wiki, we hope you will enjoy our hosting. You can immediately start working on your wiki or whenever you want. Need help? No problem! We will help you with your wiki as needed. 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You can find us here: * [[meta:Special:MyLanguage/Help center|On our own Miraheze wiki]] * On [[phab:|Phabricator]] * On [https://miraheze.org/discord Discord] * On IRC in #miraheze on irc.libera.chat ([irc://irc.libera.chat/%23miraheze direct link]; [https://web.libera.chat/?channel=#miraheze webchat]) === For visitors of this wiki === Hello, the default Main Page of this wiki (this page) has not yet been replaced by the bureaucrat(s) of this wiki. The bureaucrat(s) might still be working on a Main Page, so please check again later! 21236ac3f8d65e5563b6da6b70815ca6bf1e6616 2 1 2024-01-07T23:20:50Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki Welcome to the lore wiki for the Haven City Heroes living world for Mutants and Masterminds 3e! Feel free to explore the wiki as you choose - if you're planning to learn the lore, we suggest checking out the following pages, and exploring from there as things strike your interest. If you have specific questions, our staff in the server proper are there to help. [[Category:Haven City]], for information on the city that the living world is centered around. [[Haven University]], for information on a major university in the city that many PCs attend or work at. [[Category:The Timeline]], for information on the history of the setting up. [[Category:The Arcane]], for information on how magic works in the setting. [[Category:Hypertech]], for information on how super-level technology works in the setting. [[Category:The Cosmos]], for information on aliens and other cosmic-level information in the setting. You may also be interested in listings of major NPC characters, or even in simply exploring [[Category:Top-Level Lore|the entire category tree]]. If you're interested in playing, [https://forms.gle/wfNgMcL2MM3Ekj3D7 an application form can be found here], and [[Houserules|the houserules we use can be found here]]. 12fb2c463caf5e8892e624dffd2e4ce0ad79f343 5 2 2024-01-07T23:37:58Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki Welcome to the lore wiki for the Haven City Heroes living world for Mutants and Masterminds 3e! Feel free to explore the wiki as you choose - if you're planning to learn the lore, we suggest checking out the following pages, and exploring from there as things strike your interest. If you have specific questions, our staff in the server proper are there to help. [[Category:Haven City|Haven City]], for information on the city that the living world is centered around. [[Haven University]], for information on a major university in the city that many PCs attend or work at. [[Category:The Timeline|The Timeline]], for information on the history of the setting up. [[Category:The Arcane|The Arcane]], for information on how magic works in the setting. [[Category:Hypertech|Hypertech]], for information on how super-level technology works in the setting. [[Category:The Cosmos|The Cosmos]], for information on aliens and other cosmic-level information in the setting. You may also be interested in listings of major NPC characters, or even in simply exploring [[Category:Top-Level Lore|the entire category tree]]. If you're interested in playing, [https://forms.gle/wfNgMcL2MM3Ekj3D7 an application form can be found here], and [[Houserules|the houserules we use can be found here]]. 6a435effd16ce1f84dc1fe8035f3a549b1936e77 6 5 2024-01-07T23:38:49Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki Welcome to the lore wiki for the Haven City Heroes living world for Mutants and Masterminds 3e! Feel free to explore the wiki as you choose - if you're planning to learn the lore, we suggest checking out the following pages, and exploring from there as things strike your interest. If you have specific questions, our staff in the server proper are there to help. [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Haven City|Haven City]], for information on the city that the living world is centered around. [[Haven University]], for information on a major university in the city that many PCs attend or work at. [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The Timeline|The Timeline]], for information on the history of the setting up. [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The Arcane|The Arcane]], for information on how magic works in the setting. [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Hypertech|Hypertech]], for information on how super-level technology works in the setting. [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The Cosmos|The Cosmos]], for information on aliens and other cosmic-level information in the setting. You may also be interested in listings of major NPC characters, or even in simply exploring [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Top-Level Lore|the entire category tree]]. If you're interested in playing, [https://forms.gle/wfNgMcL2MM3Ekj3D7 an application form can be found here], and [[Houserules|the houserules we use can be found here]]. 9d5b8574536e83d86db25ff1a0f8791f8f5d90ef 7 6 2024-01-07T23:39:12Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki Welcome to the lore wiki for the Haven City Heroes living world for Mutants and Masterminds 3e! Feel free to explore the wiki as you choose - if you're planning to learn the lore, we suggest checking out the following pages, and exploring from there as things strike your interest. If you have specific questions, our staff in the server proper are there to help. [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Haven_City|Haven City]], for information on the city that the living world is centered around. [[Haven University]], for information on a major university in the city that many PCs attend or work at. [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The Timeline|The_Timeline]], for information on the history of the setting up. [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The Arcane|The_Arcane]], for information on how magic works in the setting. [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Hypertech|Hypertech]], for information on how super-level technology works in the setting. [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The_Cosmos|The Cosmos]], for information on aliens and other cosmic-level information in the setting. You may also be interested in listings of major NPC characters, or even in simply exploring [[https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Top-Level_Lore|the entire category tree]]. If you're interested in playing, [https://forms.gle/wfNgMcL2MM3Ekj3D7 an application form can be found here], and [[Houserules|the houserules we use can be found here]]. f3469c3d3baa6ef3909094e26ad781e7aa404431 8 7 2024-01-07T23:41:41Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki Welcome to the lore wiki for the Haven City Heroes living world for Mutants and Masterminds 3e! Feel free to explore the wiki as you choose - if you're planning to learn the lore, we suggest checking out the following pages, and exploring from there as things strike your interest. If you have specific questions, our staff in the server proper are there to help. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Haven%20City Haven City], for information on the city that the living world is centered around. [[Haven University]], for information on a major university in the city that many PCs attend or work at. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The%20Timeline The Timeline], for information on the history of the setting up. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The%20Arcane The Arcane], for information on how magic works in the setting. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Hypertech Hypertech], for information on how super-level technology works in the setting. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The%20Cosmos The Cosmos], for information on aliens and other cosmic-level information in the setting. You may also be interested in listings of major NPC characters, or even in simply exploring [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Top-Level%20Lore the entire category tree]. If you're interested in playing, [https://forms.gle/wfNgMcL2MM3Ekj3D7 an application form can be found here], and [[Houserules|the houserules we use can be found here]]. ce7641160dd488000eb1864b9a134bf7ca586664 23 8 2024-01-08T05:59:00Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki Welcome to the lore wiki for the Haven City Heroes living world for Mutants and Masterminds 3e! Feel free to explore the wiki as you choose - if you're planning to learn the lore, we suggest checking out the following pages, and exploring from there as things strike your interest. If you have specific questions, our staff in the server proper are there to help. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Haven%20City Haven City], for information on the city that the living world is centered around. [[Haven University]], for information on a major university in the city that many PCs attend or work at. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The%20Timeline The Timeline], for information on the history of the setting up. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The%20Arcane The Arcane], for information on how magic works in the setting. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Hypertech Hypertech], for information on how super-level technology works in the setting. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The%20Cosmos The Cosmos], for information on aliens and other cosmic-level information in the setting. You may also be interested in listings of major NPC characters, or even in simply exploring [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Top-Level%20Lore the entire category tree]. If you're interested in playing, [https://forms.gle/wfNgMcL2MM3Ekj3D7 an application form can be found here], and [[Houserules|the houserules we use can be found here]]. === PLEASE BE AWARE: The Wiki is currently being rebuilt from the ground up. === As a result, much of the lore is missing. For lore not yet re-added to the wiki, feel free to check [https://hch.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page our previous wiki] or simply ask on the server. We apologize for the inconvenience. 79cbc83a5c985a9fa760444f3547fce2893eb613 33 23 2024-01-11T18:55:29Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki Welcome to the lore wiki for the Haven City Heroes living world for Mutants and Masterminds 3e! Feel free to explore the wiki as you choose - if you're planning to learn the lore, we suggest checking out the following pages, and exploring from there as things strike your interest. If you have specific questions, our staff in the server proper are there to help. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Haven%20City Haven City], for information on the city that the living world is centered around. [[Haven University]], for information on a major university in the city that many PCs attend or work at. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The%20Timeline The Timeline], for information on the history of the setting up. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The%20Arcane The Arcane], for information on how magic works in the setting. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Overtech Overtech], for information on how super-level technology works in the setting. [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:The%20Cosmos The Cosmos], for information on aliens and other cosmic-level information in the setting. You may also be interested in listings of major NPC characters, or even in simply exploring [https://havencity.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Top-Level%20Lore the entire category tree]. If you're interested in playing, [https://forms.gle/wfNgMcL2MM3Ekj3D7 an application form can be found here], and [[Houserules|the houserules we use can be found here]]. === PLEASE BE AWARE: The Wiki is currently being rebuilt from the ground up. === As a result, much of the lore is missing. For lore not yet re-added to the wiki, feel free to check [https://hch.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page our previous wiki] or simply ask on the server. We apologize for the inconvenience. d33675c268eeda64b7000d60c15d937f12f8c53b 2 2 3 2024-01-07T23:21:02Z Dezarc 6 Created page with "idiot god" wikitext text/x-wiki idiot god 34af588ff5e0cc98b6474744a881072205730133 2 3 4 2024-01-07T23:21:35Z Dezarc 6 Created page with "void" wikitext text/x-wiki void e9cede9b80ea3abd89c755f1117337d429162c86 6 4 9 2024-01-08T02:34:02Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709 14 6 11 2024-01-08T02:57:38Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with "[[Category:Top-Level Lore]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Arcane}}" wikitext text/x-wiki [[Category:Top-Level Lore]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Arcane}} 8883e484e7e2bb20afa3701b1fb7e044c53df910 14 7 12 2024-01-08T02:58:03Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created blank page wikitext text/x-wiki da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709 14 8 13 2024-01-08T02:59:23Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with " {{DEFAULTSORT:Category:Timeline}}" wikitext text/x-wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Category:Timeline}} e4bdffc1ecc939310f5ae3ca7fe2ebfd67fdb111 14 13 2024-01-08T02:59:48Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Category:Timeline}} [[Category:Top-Level Lore]] a7078615f13fbe4f899d7f6978a0bf61eb1ec97a 14 9 15 2024-01-08T03:00:09Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with "[[Category:Top-Level Lore]]" wikitext text/x-wiki [[Category:Top-Level Lore]] 02ccb6e421d410d954c41ca5195123bf657dcd2a 31 15 2024-01-11T18:55:08Z AbyssWatcher 5 AbyssWatcher moved page [[Category:Hypertech]] to [[Category:Overtech]]: Misspelled title wikitext text/x-wiki [[Category:Top-Level Lore]] 02ccb6e421d410d954c41ca5195123bf657dcd2a 14 10 16 2024-01-08T03:01:49Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with "[[Category:Top-Level Lore]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosmos}}" wikitext text/x-wiki [[Category:Top-Level Lore]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosmos}} 2f4a9040ecda3c0dbde184f271337a13472b3059 14 11 17 2024-01-08T03:02:13Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with "[[Category:Locations]]" wikitext text/x-wiki [[Category:Locations]] 3c87035104589422729b1e55f5f98737a79ffb3d 14 12 18 2024-01-08T03:02:30Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with "[[Category:Top-Level Lore]]" wikitext text/x-wiki [[Category:Top-Level Lore]] 02ccb6e421d410d954c41ca5195123bf657dcd2a 0 13 19 2024-01-08T04:38:16Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with "== Requirements for Characters == In simple terms, these are a handful of minimum requirements that all characters must satisfy in order to be approved. === Mechanics === Characters must be between PL8 and PL10, although some concepts using Sidekick or Summon may be allowed to build at lower PLs. All characters must spend all of their starting PP (150 power points, regardless of PL). Characters must meet at least 2/3 of their Defensive PL Caps, and their third must be..." wikitext text/x-wiki == Requirements for Characters == In simple terms, these are a handful of minimum requirements that all characters must satisfy in order to be approved. === Mechanics === Characters must be between PL8 and PL10, although some concepts using Sidekick or Summon may be allowed to build at lower PLs. All characters must spend all of their starting PP (150 power points, regardless of PL). Characters must meet at least 2/3 of their Defensive PL Caps, and their third must be within 2 ranks of being capped.<blockquote>The three Defensive PL Caps are Toughness/Dodge, Toughness/Parry, and Fortitude/Will e.g. A PL8 character with all Defenses except Dodge at 8, with Dodge being 6, is acceptable. If Parry is also 6, they are failing 2 of their caps, and must revise.</blockquote>Characters must have at least one PL-capped attack which can defeat a foe (although not necessarily through incapacitation).<blockquote>This attack can be Damage, or an Affliction that imposes a 3rd degree condition other than Unaware or Asleep.</blockquote>Additionally, none of their Defenses can be less than half their PL, and their PL-capped attack must have a rank of at least half their PL. === Complications === All characters ''must'' have a complication representing why they act as a hero. If they have no reason to be a hero, they are not a PC. All characters must have at least one complication in addition to their Motivation. === Additional Requirements === Characters may not use anything listed in the '''Banned Build Options''' section. Please pay special attention to the rules around Multiattack and Linked Effects. == Additional Options == As per the optional rule in Power Profiles, the Luck advantage can be bought for hero point benefits beyond re-rolling a die roll. You may purchase Luck for any use of a hero point (including to fuel fortune advantages such as Beginner's Luck) with the exception of Luck: Inspire - that is, points to fuel the Inspire advantage, not the Inspiration use of a Hero Point, which is still allowed. Constructs can use Extra Effort, suffering the Impaired -> Disabled -> Incapacitated conditions instead of Fatigued -> Exhausted -> Impaired. If a construct PC is hit by an Affects Objects effect, they resist at Power Level. GMs may allow certain non-minion construct NPCs to resist Affects Objects effects at PL as well. == Homebrew Advantages == ==== Avoidance ==== You have a +2 circumstance bonus to skill checks to escape grabs and similar ensnaring effects. A second rank of this advantage increases the circumstance bonus to +5. This bonus only applies to escaping, not to the initial check to avoid the grab or snare. ==== Benefit, Assessment based on Tactics ==== Your ability to read others' combat skill is based in your own knowledge of combat, rather than your ability to read others in general. When you use Assessment, you may do so using your Tactics skill rather than your Insight. ==== Born for the Stage ==== You may make untrained checks with any artistic or performance skill as if you were trained, and gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the active use of that skill. ==== Damaging Escape ==== When you escape from a grab, you get an unarmed attack against the opponent as a reaction. You still have to roll to hit. ==== Domineer ==== Your threats stick with opponents and leave them distracted. When you successfully demoralize an opponent with the Intimidation skill, they remain Impaired for a number of rounds equal to the Degrees of Success on your initial check. With four or more Degrees of Success, your target is Disabled until the end of your next turn, then Impaired for the remaining duration. Additional attempts to demoralize the same opponent replace the remaining duration rather than add to it. ==== Exuding Confidence ==== You may use your Presence score to determine your Will defenses instead of Awareness. ==== Favored Friend ==== You have a particular type of ally you've studied or are especially effective with. It may be a type of creature (aliens, animals, constructs, metahumans, undead, etc.), a profession (soldiers, police officers, artists, etc.) or any other category the GM approves. Especially broad categories like 'humans' or ‘heroes’ are not permitted. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion checks dealing with your Favored Friend. This circumstance bonus is not limited by power level. ==== Intuitive Reflexes ==== You may use your Awareness score to determine your initiative, instead of your Agility. ==== Monkeywrencher ==== If you choose to attack a mechanical or electrical device or piece of equipment, such as a suit of power armor, a rifle, or a similar item, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Damage. With a second rank, your circumstance bonus is +5. As a rule of thumb, this bonus only applies to mechanisms that have moving parts, require electrical power, or are fueled by a chemical reaction. ==== Readied Rituals ==== Some ritualists have mastered the technique of performing an ritual and leaving it “paused” just on the edge of completion, such that it only takes a moment (and a standard action) to finish and activate them, allowing the ritualist to have an effect “readied” for quick use. Readied Ritual is a Benefit advantage (Hero’s Handbook, Chapter 5), with the following requirements and benefits: * To have the Readied Rituals Benefit, you must have the Ritualist advantage and be trained in its associated Ritual Skill. * You can only ready rituals with a cost equal to or less than your associated Ritual Skill bonus. More difficult rituals are too hard to hold “at the ready” without completing them. * You may have only one ritual readied at a time per rank of this advantage. * Readying a ritual takes the same amount of time as performing it, and you can fast-cast a ritual to ready it, if you wish. ==== Skill Knack ==== A skill knack allows a character to ignore one type of circumstance penalty for skill use. Existing examples include Improvised Tools (which removes the circumstance penalty for not having tools) or Animal Empathy (which removes the circumstance penalty on using interaction skills with animals). Other possibilities include removing circumstance penalties for Acrobatics or Athletics (moving at normal speeds, not vulnerable while in use, etc.), penalties for difficult disguises with Deception, and so forth. This advantage may not be taken to ignore the -5 penalty for Feinting, Demoralizing, or Tricking as a move action. ==== Strongarm ==== You can apply your Strength modifier rather than your Presence modifier to Intimidation checks. ==== Unnerving Assault ==== When you have a critical success on a noticeable attack or resistance check, you may make an immediate check to demoralize. ==== Withstand Damage ==== When using the Defend action, you can reduce active defenses by up to 2 to increase your Toughness by the same amount. A second rank allows you to take a reduction and increase of up to 5. == Banned Build Options == === Advantages === '''Fast Grab''' is banned. To replicate the same effect, use Linked Move Object (Reduced Range, Limited to Grabs). Note that if you remove the Limited to Grabs, the same effect power also works as a knockback effect. '''Holding Back''' is banned. '''Jack of All Trades''' is illegal if the character has an Intellect of 7 or higher. Additionally, please be aware that many GMs rule that Jack of All Trades (which allows you to roll skills despite being trained but does not actually make you trained) limit the maximum DC you can succeed at to DC 15, following guidelines on untrained Expertise skill usage. Total ranks of '''Luck''' are capped to PL.<blockquote>e.g. a PL8 character may have no more than 8 ranks of Luck, across all types of Luck.</blockquote>Individual types of '''Luck''' are capped to PL/2, rounded up. The exception is Luck: Recover, which is capped at 1 rank.<blockquote>e.g. a PL9 character may have no more than 5 ranks of Luck in a single type of Luck</blockquote>'''Luck: Inspire''' is banned. '''Skill Knack''' is illegal if used to ignore circumstance penalties for combat uses of interaction skills as move actions (e.g. Feinting as a move action). === Powers === The '''Affliction''' power should not have more than a single rank of Extra Condition (that is, imposing 3 or more conditions at once) unless they are Limited Degree 2 (that is, only imposing first-degree conditions regardless of degrees of failure). Additionally, note that combining the Defenseless condition with the Disabled or Stunned conditions will be scrutinized heavily. '''Concealment''' that includes normal vision should have an appropriate limitation preventing it from being in use all the time for permanent Concealment bonuses.<blockquote>Passive is typically the most balanced option. Concentration is also a suitable limit. Partial may be appropriate if the character's Dodge/Parry are not capped against their Toughness.</blockquote>The Area extra may not be taken on '''Deflect'''. '''Flight''' may not be used with Limits to recreate other types of movement (e.g. Flight with Limited: Can Only Travel in Ballistic Arcs as a better version of Leaping, or Flight with Limited: Must remain in contact with a solid or liquid surface as a better version of Speed with Wall-Crawling and Water-Walking).<blockquote>However, note that Flight with a -1pp Quirk can be used to replicate wuxia-style movement, rather than Leaping with Limited Wall Crawling and Limited Water-Walking.</blockquote>The '''Growth''' and '''Shrinking''' powers as 2/r ranked powers are illegal. Instead, size should be set using a Feature, changing size rank by 1 category per PP or up to 3 mass categories per PP.<blockquote>Keep in mind that the default size and weight is Size Rank -2 (3-6 feet) and Mass Rank 2 (100-200 pounds). Characters may be very slightly outside this range for flavor reasons (e.g. being up to 6'6" and 250 pounds) but still count as Size Rank -2 and Mass Rank 2.</blockquote>The '''Healing''' power is illegal if taken at 6 ranks or higher. Additionally, the Area extra may not be taken on Healing. The '''Morph''' power may not be taken with more than 1 rank of Metamorph. The '''Sure-Footed''' option of the '''Movement''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to overcoming hindrances). The '''Regeneration''' power may only be taken at 1, 2, 5, or 10 ranks. If taken at 10 ranks, it must have a -1/rank Limitation.<blockquote>Please note that Regeneration which doesn't apply to a single common damage descriptor (such as Fire) is a -2pp Quirk, not a -1/rank Limit. To count as a Limit, it must not function against at a very common damage descriptor (such as Slashing/Piercing, Bludgeoning, or Energy), or at least 3 common damage descriptors.</blockquote>The '''Remote Sensing''' power is illegal if usable at the same time as a Perception Ranged attacking power (Affliction, Damage, or Weaken) with descriptors allowing it to be used through the Remote Sensing<blockquote>e.g. a Perception Ranged Damage power representing shooting a gun that always hits would be usable at the same time as a Remote Sensing power representing remotely accessing cameras, as the descriptors wouldn't allow them to be combined. A power representing astral projection and another representing a spiritual attack, however, have descriptors that can be combined, and therefore may not be used at the same time, but would be legal if taken as separate slots in the same Array.</blockquote>An Accurate sense with '''Penetrates Concealment''' must have a Limit preventing it from being activated at all times.<blockquote>Concentration and Distracting are both appropriate Limits for most similar powers.</blockquote>The '''Swimming''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to while Swimming) and consider Skill Mastery: Athletics The '''Variable''' power may never be taken as an Alternate Effect, nor may it have Alternate Effects - essentially, it cannot be part of an Array. Additionally, the '''Variable''' power may not be upgraded to a Free Action if it has 4 or more ranks. === Power Flaws and Extras === The '''Innate''' extra is banned for any power other than Create. The '''Reaction''' extra is illegal on any power with a rank greater than half PL. The '''Triggered''' extra is illegal at a rank greater than half PL (not counting a rank to have a Variable Trigger or Selective trigger). == Rules of Fair Play == There are several rules - both mechanical and otherwise - which GMs are asked to keep in mind when running games and players are asked to keep in mind when building. Some of the most important as as follows: '''Mechanics should be backed up by thematics, and vice versa.''' If something is on your character sheet, it should be thematically coherent, able to be explained by your character's backstory and concept. Certain powers, advantages, and skills are particularly effective for any build (e.g. Luck Control, Evasion, or Perception) even if they don't thematically make sense for a character - make sure that you only make purchases which make sense for your character's concept. Part of this is not giving your character ridiculously high skill bonuses unless their concept actually demands it, and using Limited versions of those traits when appropriate (for example, a character with good hearing would likely have Perception Limited to Hearing rather than normal Perception). Similarly, do your best to make sure that aspects of your character are represented in their mechanics as well - often through Abilities and Expertise skills. '''Characters shouldn't be able to do everything on their own.''' This is a team game, and characters who are capable of dealing with any situation and every problem better than anyone else aren't fun to play with. Your character should have both strengths and weaknesses. '''Generalist characters shouldn't outshine specialist characters.''' Again, this is a team game, and everyone deserve a chance to have their character shine in their particular field. Characters with specialized, narrow skill sets and concepts should be able to be the expert in their field and when their concept is relevant - meanwhile, characters with broad skill sets and generalist concepts shine when a specialist isn't present, able to be more adaptable to multiple situations. As part of this concept, '''narrow skills should be more capable than broader skills.''' This is generally accomplished via giving the narrow skill a lower DC than the broader skill - for example, the information that someone with Expertise: Biology might get on a DC 15 check might only be available to someone with Expertise: Science on a DC 20 check. As a general rule, a narrow skill should have DCs 5 lower than the broader skill, although this may vary depending on exactly how much narrower the skill is. '''A Complication is an invitation.''' Adding a complication to a character's sheet is an implicit invitation for the GM to use that complication - similarly, an Uncontrolled power is an invitation for the GM to use that power. Conversely, leaving a complication ''off'' of a character's sheet should tell the GM ''not'' to use it, even if it's one that would be reasonable for the character to have - for example, a character with a secret identity but not a Secret Identity complication shouldn't be threatened with having their identity threatened. '''Be kind and don't break the game.''' There are numerous ways to combine disparate aspects of the system that are unbalanced, such as combining Untapped Potential and Extraordinary Effort, using an Environment power or similar to provide your own Favored Environment, and using Improved Aim then Extra Effort and Power Attack to attack with +5 to hit and +5 to rank in a single round. Please don't do things like this. GMs will keep an eye out for builds that could theoretically do so, and may quiz the player to make sure that they don't plan to do so, or may require changes to the sheet even to things that are not hard-banned. == Guidelines for Unclear Options == The following are guidelines for how to deal with parts of the system with little or insufficient guidance. === Pricing Guidelines === The Feature power can be used to gain circumstance bonuses to certain rolls, but should not do so at greater efficiency than Skill Ranks. General guidelines are as follows:<blockquote>A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill, or a particular use of multiple skills, only in a limited set of circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. Compare to the Attractive advantage to see if the circumstances are limited enough. A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. A Feature that gives a non-circumstantial bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should be a Limited Enhanced Skill, giving 4 skill ranks for that specific use for 1pp, rather than a Feature.</blockquote>Immunity can be used for descriptors outside those explicitly listed in the book. General guidelines to the price of these are as follows:<blockquote> 1PP: descriptors that are primarily flavor, or immunity to individual people's powers. 2PP: descriptors that are particularly rare, or subsets of 5pp immunities (e.g. Immunity to a specific Interaction skill or emotion rather than all Interaction skills or emotions). 5PP: descriptors that are common, but only as used for a single power (e.g. Damage of a specific descriptor, a particular type of Affliction such as entrapment or sensory attacks). 10pp: descriptors that are common, as used for multiple powers. 20pp: extremely common descriptors that subsume multiple 10pp descriptors. Note that Slashing and Piercing count as a single 20pp descriptor.</blockquote> === When to Use Different Options === MnM has a number of ways to build similar powers using different effects. Here are some common points of confusion: ==== Protecting Others: Create, Deflect, Affects Others Immunity? ==== Create should be used when your power can provide shelter from area attacks, or when it can be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical forcefield that blocks all attacks, until shattered by a powerful strike.</blockquote>Deflect should be used when your power can redirect attacks, or when it can be pierced by a sufficiently accurate attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical shield that darts around an area to intercept attacks, but may fail to block a strike that comes to quickly.</blockquote>Affects Others Immunity should be used when your power is unbreakable, but only functions against a limited subset of attacks.<blockquote>e.g. a magical ward against fire, but which doesn't protect against bullets.</blockquote> ==== Extreme Talent: Skills or Powers? ==== A number of forms of extreme talent can be represented as either Skills or as Powers. Parkour is one of the most common examples, possible to build either as simple high Athletics or as a rank of Speed, Leaping, and Wall-Crawling - another common example is heightened senses, possible as either high Perception or as various Sense options. The reason to build with Powers rather than Skills generally comes down to one of two reasons. First is consistency - as most power-built options of this type don't call for rolls, a character with high Athletics will have a chance to fail while climbing a wall in a way that a character with Wall-Crawling doesn't. Second is adding options that the skills alone don't grant - no point at the Perception skill will let you echolocate, but Senses 2: Accurate Hearing will. The reason to build with Skills rather than Powers generally comes down to wanting the other benefits provided by that skill which the power version doesn't give, often due to being more focused - Senses: Extended Vision allows you to see much farther away, but it doesn't let you spot things around you as well as +10 Perception does. Similarly, while a power-built Parkour power may allow you to climb faster than simple Athletics, it doesn't help you escape from Grabs. In the end, choosing between them largely comes down to personal preference. ==== Draining Effects: Affliction or Weaken? ==== Affliction (Impaired->Disabled->Transformed, limited to the specific trait being drained) is a way of representing draining attacks that can sometimes be more appropriate than Weaken. Affliction is best used when the drained trait would return all at once rather than slowly over time. ==== Versatility: Variable or an Array? ==== The Variable power should only be used when it is necessary for a concept. Keep in mind that most concepts who are designed to be versatile are able to accomplish that versatility using Power Stunts. Examples of concepts which may have genuine need for Variable include Power Mimics, versatile Shapeshifters, and focused Inventors. One way to determine if Variable is necessary is to try building the most common sets that Variable would use, then compare the cost of an array including all of those options to the price of a Variable that covers all of those options. As a general guideline, Variable is only cheaper if the array would include at least 2-3 options for each rank of Variable. Another way to see if Variable is necessary is to consider that same list of common sets, and try to come up with scenarios where you might need to use something outside of those prebuilt options. If you have difficulty imagining scenarios not covered by those sets, Variable is likely not necessary. ==== Inventors: the Invention advantage, Devices, or Slow Variable (Devices)? ==== Some characters have the skillset to create impressive works of technology or magical relics as an integral part of their concept. However, there are multiple ways to represent this. Note that these options are not exclusive. The Invention advantage best represents a character creating a new, temporary invention during a storyline to counter a specific threat. As it is relatively cheap - and also difficult to use in a living world setting - it is best taken as a flavor purchase, often on top of the other options. The Removable flaw, which turns a set of powers into a Removable or Easily Removable Device, best represents a specific set of items that are integral to a character's concept. If a character has the same inventions each time they appear, those inventions are most likely Devices. Slow Variable (Devices) gives a character a selection of PP which can be used to buy any Devices, reassigning them during downtime. If a character switches between different devices often, bringing different options to different appearances, those devices most likely come from a Slow Variable power. ==== Ridiculous Weapon Skills: Devices or Powers with a Quirk? ==== There are two ways to build a swordsman with ridiculous weapon skills, such as deflecting bullets. Either his sword is special, or they are. This also applies for characters like Green Arrow, Deadshot, and similar. If the skills are only usable with one particular weapon - due to a spiritual bonding, the weapon's inherent magical properties, a psychological belief, or any other reason - they should be built with a Device. If the skills are usable with any weapon of the appropriate type, they should be built as Powers with a -1 Quirk: Requires a [weapon]. The character will then either have a Device or a piece of Equipment which provides access to that Power. ==== Utility Belts, Guns, and Similar: Devices or Equipment? ==== The Removable Flaw should be used to create a Device whenever one or more of the following is true:<blockquote>The item isn't obtainable by an average wealthy person in the setting (e.g. a magical sword in a setting with magic kept secret from normal society). The item is unbreakable by ordinary means (e.g. a shield made from adamantium). The item uses technology with no theoretical basis under current understanding of physics (e.g. a personal teleporter, even if a rich person in the setting might have access to one). The item can only be used by one person and no one else, under normal circumstances. The item is important enough to the character's concept that taking it from them is a serious hindrance not to their ability to function, but to their ability to fulfill their concept. The item is not a prebuilt piece of Equipment out of the book, and is built with a rank of 7 or more.</blockquote>If none of the above is true, the item may be built as Equipment. ==== Unbreakable Items: Devices or Complications? ==== The Removable Flaw comes with three major drawbacks - that they can be destroyed, that they can be disarmed, and that they may not always be present. The first two drawbacks are mechanical, and the third is narrative. Removable Devices can be destroyed, but not stolen - Easily Removable Devices can be both destroyed and broken. However, you can pay extra to make a Device Indestructible. An Easily Removable Device can be Indestructible, if descriptors justify it. A Removable Device should never be Indestructible - if it would be, instead simply build it as a normal Power or set of Powers, and add a Power Loss Complication. ==== Sidekicks and Summons: the Minion Advantage, the Sidekick advantage, the Summon power, or flavor? ==== Most of the time, side characters of any kind shouldn't be built as Minions, Sidekicks, or Summon. Instead, build them as flavor for other powers.<blockquote>e.g. someone who summons ghosts should, rather than having Summon, have an array of ranged powers with Indirect 4, representing ghosts attacking on their behalf. e.g. someone with a helper who feeds them information through an earpiece should, rather than having a Sidekick, should have an Enhanced Trait power giving them extra skills and Advantages, as well as a Complication representing that that helper can be targeted. e.g. someone with a robotic drone that they control remotely should, rather than having Summon, have their character sheet be built as the drone, with Immortality representing rebuilding the drone, and a Complication representing their actual self.</blockquote>There are some exceptions to this - for example, a character whose concept is that they are two twins working together. Cases like these can generally be modeled by building the characters at a lower PL than the character is legally considered, using the guideline that two characters of PL A are equivalent to one character of PL A+2. For example, two twins built with PL6 offenses and defenses can be submitted as a PL8 character. Speak to a GM to determine if your concept fits this situation. ==== Steeds: Powers or Vehicles? ==== If, conceptually, you are always on your steed, then it should be a Power, using Removable or a Power Loss Complication to represent that it can take damage or be taken from you. Otherwise, it should be a Vehicle. This applies whether your steed is a flying carpet, a motorcycle, or a flying horse. ==== Moving Homes: Vehicles with Rooms or Headquarters with Moveable? ==== Imagine that your moving home is attacked as part of a game: If, in that scene, you pilot it to avoid dangers in the environment and your allies strike back through windows or using weapons built into the home, it is a Vehicle. If your home is invaded by attackers, and you fight them off within your home itself, it is a Headquarters. f78d51ff6caf033540bbdc229fed66c1054757d4 20 19 2024-01-08T04:57:41Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki == Requirements for Characters == In simple terms, these are a handful of minimum requirements that all characters must satisfy in order to be approved. === Mechanics === Characters must be between PL8 and PL10, although some concepts using Sidekick or Summon may be allowed to build at lower PLs. All characters must spend all of their starting PP (150 power points, regardless of PL). Characters must meet at least 2/3 of their Defensive PL Caps, and their third must be within 2 ranks of being capped.<blockquote>The three Defensive PL Caps are Toughness/Dodge, Toughness/Parry, and Fortitude/Will e.g. A PL8 character with all Defenses except Dodge at 8, with Dodge being 6, is acceptable. If Parry is also 6, they are failing 2 of their caps, and must revise.</blockquote>Characters must have at least one PL-capped attack which can defeat a foe (although not necessarily through incapacitation).<blockquote>This attack can be Damage, or an Affliction that imposes a 3rd degree condition other than Unaware or Asleep.</blockquote>Additionally, none of their Defenses can be less than half their PL, and their PL-capped attack must have a rank of at least half their PL. === Complications === All characters ''must'' have a complication representing why they act as a hero. If they have no reason to be a hero, they are not a PC. All characters must have at least one complication in addition to their Motivation. === Additional Requirements === Characters may not use anything listed in the '''Banned Build Options''' section. Please pay special attention to the rules around Multiattack and Linked Effects. == Options from the Books == As per the optional rule in Power Profiles, the Luck advantage can be bought for hero point benefits beyond re-rolling a die roll. You may purchase Luck for any use of a hero point (including to fuel fortune advantages such as Beginner's Luck) with the exception of Luck: Inspire - that is, points to fuel the Inspire advantage, not the Inspiration use of a Hero Point, which is still allowed. Constructs can use Extra Effort, suffering the Impaired -> Disabled -> Incapacitated conditions instead of Fatigued -> Exhausted -> Impaired. If a construct PC is hit by an Affects Objects effect, they resist at Power Level. GMs may allow certain non-minion construct NPCs to resist Affects Objects effects at PL as well. == Homebrew Advantages == ==== Avoidance ==== You have a +2 circumstance bonus to skill checks to escape grabs and similar ensnaring effects. A second rank of this advantage increases the circumstance bonus to +5. This bonus only applies to escaping, not to the initial check to avoid the grab or snare. ==== Benefit, Assessment based on Tactics ==== Your ability to read others' combat skill is based in your own knowledge of combat, rather than your ability to read others in general. When you use Assessment, you may do so using your Tactics skill rather than your Insight. ==== Born for the Stage ==== You may make untrained checks with any artistic or performance skill as if you were trained, and gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the active use of that skill. ==== Damaging Escape ==== When you escape from a grab, you get an unarmed attack against the opponent as a reaction. You still have to roll to hit. ==== Domineer ==== Your threats stick with opponents and leave them distracted. When you successfully demoralize an opponent with the Intimidation skill, they remain Impaired for a number of rounds equal to the Degrees of Success on your initial check. With four or more Degrees of Success, your target is Disabled until the end of your next turn, then Impaired for the remaining duration. Additional attempts to demoralize the same opponent replace the remaining duration rather than add to it. ==== Exuding Confidence ==== You may use your Presence score to determine your Will defenses instead of Awareness. ==== Favored Friend ==== You have a particular type of ally you've studied or are especially effective with. It may be a type of creature (aliens, animals, constructs, metahumans, undead, etc.), a profession (soldiers, police officers, artists, etc.) or any other category the GM approves. Especially broad categories like 'humans' or ‘heroes’ are not permitted. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion checks dealing with your Favored Friend. This circumstance bonus is not limited by power level. ==== Intuitive Reflexes ==== You may use your Awareness score to determine your initiative, instead of your Agility. ==== Monkeywrencher ==== If you choose to attack a mechanical or electrical device or piece of equipment, such as a suit of power armor, a rifle, or a similar item, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Damage. With a second rank, your circumstance bonus is +5. As a rule of thumb, this bonus only applies to mechanisms that have moving parts, require electrical power, or are fueled by a chemical reaction. ==== Readied Rituals ==== Some ritualists have mastered the technique of performing an ritual and leaving it “paused” just on the edge of completion, such that it only takes a moment (and a standard action) to finish and activate them, allowing the ritualist to have an effect “readied” for quick use. Readied Ritual is a Benefit advantage (Hero’s Handbook, Chapter 5), with the following requirements and benefits: * To have the Readied Rituals Benefit, you must have the Ritualist advantage and be trained in its associated Ritual Skill. * You can only ready rituals with a cost equal to or less than your associated Ritual Skill bonus. More difficult rituals are too hard to hold “at the ready” without completing them. * You may have only one ritual readied at a time per rank of this advantage. * Readying a ritual takes the same amount of time as performing it, and you can fast-cast a ritual to ready it, if you wish. ==== Skill Knack ==== A skill knack allows a character to ignore one type of circumstance penalty for skill use. Existing examples include Improvised Tools (which removes the circumstance penalty for not having tools) or Animal Empathy (which removes the circumstance penalty on using interaction skills with animals). Other possibilities include removing circumstance penalties for Acrobatics or Athletics (moving at normal speeds, not vulnerable while in use, etc.), penalties for difficult disguises with Deception, and so forth. This advantage may not be taken to ignore the -5 penalty for Feinting, Demoralizing, or Tricking as a move action. ==== Strongarm ==== You can apply your Strength modifier rather than your Presence modifier to Intimidation checks. ==== Unnerving Assault ==== When you have a critical success on a noticeable attack or resistance check, you may make an immediate check to demoralize. ==== Withstand Damage ==== When using the Defend action, you can reduce active defenses by up to 2 to increase your Toughness by the same amount. A second rank allows you to take a reduction and increase of up to 5. == Banned Build Options == === Advantages === '''Fast Grab''' is banned. To replicate the same effect, use Linked Move Object (Reduced Range, Limited to Grabs). Note that if you remove the Limited to Grabs, the same effect power also works as a knockback effect. '''Holding Back''' is banned. '''Jack of All Trades''' is illegal if the character has an Intellect of 7 or higher. Additionally, please be aware that many GMs rule that Jack of All Trades (which allows you to roll skills despite being trained but does not actually make you trained) limit the maximum DC you can succeed at to DC 15, following guidelines on untrained Expertise skill usage. Total ranks of '''Luck''' are capped to PL.<blockquote>e.g. a PL8 character may have no more than 8 ranks of Luck, across all types of Luck.</blockquote>Individual types of '''Luck''' are capped to PL/2, rounded up. The exception is Luck: Recover, which is capped at 1 rank.<blockquote>e.g. a PL9 character may have no more than 5 ranks of Luck in a single type of Luck</blockquote>'''Luck: Inspire''' is banned. === Powers === The '''Affliction''' power should not have more than a single rank of Extra Condition (that is, imposing 3 or more conditions at once) unless they are Limited Degree 2 (that is, only imposing first-degree conditions regardless of degrees of failure). If an Affliction applies Vulnerable or Defenseless and is Overcome by Dodge or Parry, it is Overcome by the unmodified Defense, without applying Vulnerable or Defenseless. Additionally, note that combining the Defenseless condition with the Disabled or Stunned conditions will be scrutinized heavily. '''Concealment''' that includes normal vision should have an appropriate limitation preventing it from being in use all the time for permanent Concealment bonuses.<blockquote>Passive is typically the most balanced option. Concentration is also a suitable limit. Partial may be appropriate if the character's Dodge/Parry are not capped against their Toughness.</blockquote>The Area extra may not be taken on the '''Deflect''' power. '''Flight''' may not be used with Limits to recreate other types of movement (e.g. Flight with Limited: Can Only Travel in Ballistic Arcs as a better version of Leaping, or Flight with Limited: Must remain in contact with a solid or liquid surface as a better version of Speed with Wall-Crawling and Water-Walking).<blockquote>However, note that Flight with a -1pp Quirk can be used to replicate wuxia-style movement, rather than Leaping with Limited Wall Crawling and Limited Water-Walking.</blockquote>The '''Growth''' and '''Shrinking''' powers as 2/r ranked powers are illegal. Instead, size should be set using a Feature, changing size rank by 1 category per PP or up to 3 mass categories per PP.<blockquote>Keep in mind that the default size and weight is Size Rank -2 (3-6 feet) and Mass Rank 2 (100-200 pounds). Characters may be very slightly outside this range for flavor reasons (e.g. being up to 6'6" and 250 pounds) but still count as Size Rank -2 and Mass Rank 2.</blockquote>The '''Healing''' power is illegal if taken at 6 ranks or higher. Additionally, the Area extra may not be taken on Healing. The area extra may not be taken on the '''Luck Control''' power. The '''Morph''' power may not be taken with more than 1 rank of Metamorph. The '''Sure-Footed''' option of the '''Movement''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to overcoming hindrances). The '''Regeneration''' power may only be taken at 1, 2, 5, or 10 ranks. If taken at 10 ranks, it must have a -1/rank Limitation.<blockquote>Please note that Regeneration which doesn't apply to a single common damage descriptor (such as Fire) is a -2pp Quirk, not a -1/rank Limit. To count as a Limit, it must not function against at a very common damage descriptor (such as Slashing/Piercing, Bludgeoning, or Energy), or at least 3 common damage descriptors.</blockquote>The '''Remote Sensing''' power is illegal if usable at the same time as a Perception Ranged attacking power (Affliction, Damage, or Weaken) with descriptors allowing it to be used through the Remote Sensing<blockquote>e.g. a Perception Ranged Damage power representing shooting a gun that always hits would be usable at the same time as a Remote Sensing power representing remotely accessing cameras, as the descriptors wouldn't allow them to be combined. A power representing astral projection and another representing a spiritual attack, however, have descriptors that can be combined, and therefore may not be used at the same time, but would be legal if taken as separate slots in the same Array.</blockquote>An Accurate sense with '''Penetrates Concealment''' must have a Limit preventing it from being activated at all times.<blockquote>Concentration and Distracting are both appropriate Limits for most similar powers.</blockquote>The '''Swimming''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to while Swimming) and consider Skill Mastery: Athletics The '''Variable''' power may never be taken as an Alternate Effect, nor may it have Alternate Effects - essentially, it cannot be part of an Array. Additionally, the '''Variable''' power may not be upgraded to a Free Action if it has 4 or more ranks. === Power Flaws and Extras === The '''Area''' extra cannot be taken as partial ranks on a power with an effect rank above your PL, and it must be at least 2 ranks below the full ranks of the power. The '''Innate''' extra is banned for any power other than Create. The '''Reaction''' extra is illegal on any power with a rank greater than half PL. The '''Triggered''' extra is illegal at a rank greater than half PL (not counting a rank to have a Variable Trigger or Selective trigger). === Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects === All of the above are allowed, but we restrict some elements of them and how they interact to prevent powergaming and anti-climactic combats where one PC effortlessly ends the encounter. * Attacks with Effect Ranks equal to Power Level are allowed two Ranks of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack exceeds Power Level, it is allowed one less Rank of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack is below Power Level, it is allowed one more Rank of Improved Critical. * Attacks with Multiattack and/or a Linked Effect applied are allowed two less Ranks of Improved Critical for each option applied. * If an Attack under these rules would be allowed fewer than zero Ranks of Improved Critical, that Power is not allowed on our server. * Powers with significant Flaws or that don’t meet Power Level caps may get per-case exceptions. * Powers still cannot have more than four Ranks of Improved Critical, as normal. <blockquote>e.g. for a PL10 character, a Damage 10 power may have either Multiattack or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 12 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have Multiattack. A Damage 6 Power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 2 or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 4 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3. e.g. for a PL8 character, a Damage 8 power may have either a Linked Effect or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 10 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have a Linked Effect. A Damage 4 power may have a Linked Effect and Multiattack on both effects, or a Linked Effect and Improved Critical 2, or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 2 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3.</blockquote> == Rules of Fair Play == There are several rules - both mechanical and otherwise - which GMs are asked to keep in mind when running games and players are asked to keep in mind when building. Some of the most important as as follows: '''Mechanics should be backed up by thematics, and vice versa.''' If something is on your character sheet, it should be thematically coherent, able to be explained by your character's backstory and concept. Certain powers, advantages, and skills are particularly effective for any build (e.g. Luck Control, Evasion, or Perception) even if they don't thematically make sense for a character - make sure that you only make purchases which make sense for your character's concept. Part of this is not giving your character ridiculously high skill bonuses unless their concept actually demands it, and using Limited versions of those traits when appropriate (for example, a character with good hearing would likely have Perception Limited to Hearing rather than normal Perception). Similarly, do your best to make sure that aspects of your character are represented in their mechanics as well - often through Abilities and Expertise skills. '''Characters shouldn't be able to do everything on their own.''' This is a team game, and characters who are capable of dealing with any situation and every problem better than anyone else aren't fun to play with. Your character should have both strengths and weaknesses. '''Generalist characters shouldn't outshine specialist characters.''' Again, this is a team game, and everyone deserve a chance to have their character shine in their particular field. Characters with specialized, narrow skill sets and concepts should be able to be the expert in their field and when their concept is relevant - meanwhile, characters with broad skill sets and generalist concepts shine when a specialist isn't present, able to be more adaptable to multiple situations. As part of this concept, '''narrow skills should be more capable than broader skills.''' This is generally accomplished via giving the narrow skill a lower DC than the broader skill - for example, the information that someone with Expertise: Biology might get on a DC 15 check might only be available to someone with Expertise: Science on a DC 20 check. As a general rule, a narrow skill should have DCs 5 lower than the broader skill, although this may vary depending on exactly how much narrower the skill is. '''A Complication is an invitation.''' Adding a complication to a character's sheet is an implicit invitation for the GM to use that complication - similarly, an Uncontrolled power is an invitation for the GM to use that power. Conversely, leaving a complication ''off'' of a character's sheet should tell the GM ''not'' to use it, even if it's one that would be reasonable for the character to have - for example, a character with a secret identity but not a Secret Identity complication shouldn't be threatened with having their identity threatened. '''Be kind and don't break the game.''' There are numerous ways to combine disparate aspects of the system that are unbalanced, such as combining Untapped Potential and Extraordinary Effort, using an Environment power or similar to provide your own Favored Environment, and using Improved Aim then Extra Effort and Power Attack to attack with +5 to hit and +5 to rank in a single round. Please don't do things like this. GMs will keep an eye out for builds that could theoretically do so, and may quiz the player to make sure that they don't plan to do so, or may require changes to the sheet even to things that are not hard-banned. == Guidelines for Unclear Options == The following are guidelines for how to deal with parts of the system with little or insufficient guidance. === Pricing Guidelines === The Feature power can be used to gain circumstance bonuses to certain rolls, but should not do so at greater efficiency than Skill Ranks. General guidelines are as follows:<blockquote>A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill, or a particular use of multiple skills, only in a limited set of circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. Compare to the Attractive advantage to see if the circumstances are limited enough. A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. A Feature that gives a non-circumstantial bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should be a Limited Enhanced Skill, giving 4 skill ranks for that specific use for 1pp, rather than a Feature.</blockquote>Immunity can be used for descriptors outside those explicitly listed in the book. General guidelines to the price of these are as follows:<blockquote> 1PP: descriptors that are primarily flavor, or immunity to individual people's powers. 2PP: descriptors that are particularly rare, or subsets of 5pp immunities (e.g. Immunity to a specific Interaction skill or emotion rather than all Interaction skills or emotions). 5PP: descriptors that are common, but only as used for a single power (e.g. Damage of a specific descriptor, a particular type of Affliction such as entrapment or sensory attacks). 10pp: descriptors that are common, as used for multiple powers. 20pp: extremely common descriptors that subsume multiple 10pp descriptors. Note that Slashing and Piercing count as a single 20pp descriptor.</blockquote> === When to Use Different Options === MnM has a number of ways to build similar powers using different effects. Here are some common points of confusion: ==== Protecting Others: Create, Deflect, Affects Others Immunity? ==== Create should be used when your power can provide shelter from area attacks, or when it can be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical forcefield that blocks all attacks, until shattered by a powerful strike.</blockquote>Deflect should be used when your power can redirect attacks, or when it can be pierced by a sufficiently accurate attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical shield that darts around an area to intercept attacks, but may fail to block a strike that comes to quickly.</blockquote>Affects Others Immunity should be used when your power is unbreakable, but only functions against a limited subset of attacks.<blockquote>e.g. a magical ward against fire, but which doesn't protect against bullets.</blockquote> ==== Extreme Talent: Skills or Powers? ==== A number of forms of extreme talent can be represented as either Skills or as Powers. Parkour is one of the most common examples, possible to build either as simple high Athletics or as a rank of Speed, Leaping, and Wall-Crawling - another common example is heightened senses, possible as either high Perception or as various Sense options. The reason to build with Powers rather than Skills generally comes down to one of two reasons. First is consistency - as most power-built options of this type don't call for rolls, a character with high Athletics will have a chance to fail while climbing a wall in a way that a character with Wall-Crawling doesn't. Second is adding options that the skills alone don't grant - no point at the Perception skill will let you echolocate, but Senses 2: Accurate Hearing will. The reason to build with Skills rather than Powers generally comes down to wanting the other benefits provided by that skill which the power version doesn't give, often due to being more focused - Senses: Extended Vision allows you to see much farther away, but it doesn't let you spot things around you as well as +10 Perception does. Similarly, while a power-built Parkour power may allow you to climb faster than simple Athletics, it doesn't help you escape from Grabs. In the end, choosing between them largely comes down to personal preference. ==== Draining Effects: Affliction or Weaken? ==== Affliction (Impaired->Disabled->Transformed, limited to the specific trait being drained) is a way of representing draining attacks that can sometimes be more appropriate than Weaken. Affliction is best used when the drained trait would return all at once rather than slowly over time. ==== Versatility: Variable or an Array? ==== The Variable power should only be used when it is necessary for a concept. Keep in mind that most concepts who are designed to be versatile are able to accomplish that versatility using Power Stunts. Examples of concepts which may have genuine need for Variable include Power Mimics, versatile Shapeshifters, and focused Inventors. One way to determine if Variable is necessary is to try building the most common sets that Variable would use, then compare the cost of an array including all of those options to the price of a Variable that covers all of those options. As a general guideline, Variable is only cheaper if the array would include at least 2-3 options for each rank of Variable. Another way to see if Variable is necessary is to consider that same list of common sets, and try to come up with scenarios where you might need to use something outside of those prebuilt options. If you have difficulty imagining scenarios not covered by those sets, Variable is likely not necessary. ==== Inventors: the Invention advantage, Devices, or Slow Variable (Devices)? ==== Some characters have the skillset to create impressive works of technology or magical relics as an integral part of their concept. However, there are multiple ways to represent this. Note that these options are not exclusive. The Invention advantage best represents a character creating a new, temporary invention during a storyline to counter a specific threat. As it is relatively cheap - and also difficult to use in a living world setting - it is best taken as a flavor purchase, often on top of the other options. The Removable flaw, which turns a set of powers into a Removable or Easily Removable Device, best represents a specific set of items that are integral to a character's concept. If a character has the same inventions each time they appear, those inventions are most likely Devices. Slow Variable (Devices) gives a character a selection of PP which can be used to buy any Devices, reassigning them during downtime. If a character switches between different devices often, bringing different options to different appearances, those devices most likely come from a Slow Variable power. ==== Ridiculous Weapon Skills: Devices or Powers with a Quirk? ==== There are two ways to build a swordsman with ridiculous weapon skills, such as deflecting bullets. Either his sword is special, or they are. This also applies for characters like Green Arrow, Deadshot, and similar. If the skills are only usable with one particular weapon - due to a spiritual bonding, the weapon's inherent magical properties, a psychological belief, or any other reason - they should be built with a Device. If the skills are usable with any weapon of the appropriate type, they should be built as Powers with a -1 Quirk: Requires a [weapon]. The character will then either have a Device or a piece of Equipment which provides access to that Power. ==== Utility Belts, Guns, and Similar: Devices or Equipment? ==== The Removable Flaw should be used to create a Device whenever one or more of the following is true:<blockquote>The item isn't obtainable by an average wealthy person in the setting (e.g. a magical sword in a setting with magic kept secret from normal society). The item is unbreakable by ordinary means (e.g. a shield made from adamantium). The item uses technology with no theoretical basis under current understanding of physics (e.g. a personal teleporter, even if a rich person in the setting might have access to one). The item can only be used by one person and no one else, under normal circumstances. The item is important enough to the character's concept that taking it from them is a serious hindrance not to their ability to function, but to their ability to fulfill their concept. The item is not a prebuilt piece of Equipment out of the book, and is built with a rank of 7 or more.</blockquote>If none of the above is true, the item may be built as Equipment. ==== Unbreakable Items: Devices or Complications? ==== The Removable Flaw comes with three major drawbacks - that they can be destroyed, that they can be disarmed, and that they may not always be present. The first two drawbacks are mechanical, and the third is narrative. Removable Devices can be destroyed, but not stolen - Easily Removable Devices can be both destroyed and broken. However, you can pay extra to make a Device Indestructible. An Easily Removable Device can be Indestructible, if descriptors justify it. A Removable Device should never be Indestructible - if it would be, instead simply build it as a normal Power or set of Powers, and add a Power Loss Complication. ==== Sidekicks and Summons: the Minion Advantage, the Sidekick advantage, the Summon power, or flavor? ==== Most of the time, side characters of any kind shouldn't be built as Minions, Sidekicks, or Summon. Instead, build them as flavor for other powers.<blockquote>e.g. someone who summons ghosts should, rather than having Summon, have an array of ranged powers with Indirect 4, representing ghosts attacking on their behalf. e.g. someone with a helper who feeds them information through an earpiece should, rather than having a Sidekick, should have an Enhanced Trait power giving them extra skills and Advantages, as well as a Complication representing that that helper can be targeted. e.g. someone with a robotic drone that they control remotely should, rather than having Summon, have their character sheet be built as the drone, with Immortality representing rebuilding the drone, and a Complication representing their actual self.</blockquote>There are some exceptions to this - for example, a character whose concept is that they are two twins working together. Cases like these can generally be modeled by building the characters at a lower PL than the character is legally considered, using the guideline that two characters of PL A are equivalent to one character of PL A+2. For example, two twins built with PL6 offenses and defenses can be submitted as a PL8 character. Speak to a GM to determine if your concept fits this situation. ==== Steeds: Powers or Vehicles? ==== If, conceptually, you are always on your steed, then it should be a Power, using Removable or a Power Loss Complication to represent that it can take damage or be taken from you. Otherwise, it should be a Vehicle. This applies whether your steed is a flying carpet, a motorcycle, or a flying horse. ==== Moving Homes: Vehicles with Rooms or Headquarters with Moveable? ==== Imagine that your moving home is attacked as part of a game: If, in that scene, you pilot it to avoid dangers in the environment and your allies strike back through windows or using weapons built into the home, it is a Vehicle. If your home is invaded by attackers, and you fight them off within your home itself, it is a Headquarters. e491400d94124eecf658745788e1fe01193ccbc6 28 20 2024-01-08T14:39:53Z AbyssWatcher 5 Making allowances for per-case exceptions to defensive and offensive PLs. wikitext text/x-wiki == Requirements for Characters == In simple terms, these are a handful of minimum requirements that all characters must satisfy in order to be approved. === Mechanics === Characters must be between PL8 and PL10, although some concepts using Sidekick or Summon may be allowed to build at lower PLs. All characters must spend all of their starting PP (150 power points, regardless of PL). Characters must meet at least 2/3 of their Defensive PL Caps, and their third must be within 2 ranks of being capped. Additionally, none of their Defenses can be less than half their PL.<blockquote>The three Defensive PL Caps are Toughness/Dodge, Toughness/Parry, and Fortitude/Will e.g. A PL8 character with all Defenses except Dodge at 8, with Dodge being 6, is acceptable. If Parry is also 6, they are failing 2 of their caps, and must revise. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable defenses outside of sheer rank.</blockquote>Characters must have at least one PL-capped attack which can defeat a foe (although not necessarily through incapacitation). Additionally, this attack must have a rank of at least half their PL.<blockquote>This attack can be Damage, or an Affliction that imposes a 3rd degree condition other than Unaware or Asleep. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable attacks outside of sheer rank.</blockquote> === Complications === All characters ''must'' have a complication representing why they act as a hero. If they have no reason to be a hero, they are not a PC. All characters must have at least one complication in addition to their Motivation. === Additional Requirements === Characters may not use anything listed in the '''Banned Build Options''' section. Please pay special attention to the rules around Multiattack and Linked Effects. == Options from the Books == As per the optional rule in Power Profiles, the Luck advantage can be bought for hero point benefits beyond re-rolling a die roll. You may purchase Luck for any use of a hero point (including to fuel fortune advantages such as Beginner's Luck) with the exception of Luck: Inspire - that is, points to fuel the Inspire advantage, not the Inspiration use of a Hero Point, which is still allowed. Constructs can use Extra Effort, suffering the Impaired -> Disabled -> Incapacitated conditions instead of Fatigued -> Exhausted -> Impaired. If a construct PC is hit by an Affects Objects effect, they resist at Power Level. GMs may allow certain non-minion construct NPCs to resist Affects Objects effects at PL as well. == Homebrew Advantages == ==== Avoidance ==== You have a +2 circumstance bonus to skill checks to escape grabs and similar ensnaring effects. A second rank of this advantage increases the circumstance bonus to +5. This bonus only applies to escaping, not to the initial check to avoid the grab or snare. ==== Benefit, Assessment based on Tactics ==== Your ability to read others' combat skill is based in your own knowledge of combat, rather than your ability to read others in general. When you use Assessment, you may do so using your Tactics skill rather than your Insight. ==== Born for the Stage ==== You may make untrained checks with any artistic or performance skill as if you were trained, and gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the active use of that skill. ==== Damaging Escape ==== When you escape from a grab, you get an unarmed attack against the opponent as a reaction. You still have to roll to hit. ==== Domineer ==== Your threats stick with opponents and leave them distracted. When you successfully demoralize an opponent with the Intimidation skill, they remain Impaired for a number of rounds equal to the Degrees of Success on your initial check. With four or more Degrees of Success, your target is Disabled until the end of your next turn, then Impaired for the remaining duration. Additional attempts to demoralize the same opponent replace the remaining duration rather than add to it. ==== Exuding Confidence ==== You may use your Presence score to determine your Will defenses instead of Awareness. ==== Favored Friend ==== You have a particular type of ally you've studied or are especially effective with. It may be a type of creature (aliens, animals, constructs, metahumans, undead, etc.), a profession (soldiers, police officers, artists, etc.) or any other category the GM approves. Especially broad categories like 'humans' or ‘heroes’ are not permitted. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion checks dealing with your Favored Friend. This circumstance bonus is not limited by power level. ==== Intuitive Reflexes ==== You may use your Awareness score to determine your initiative, instead of your Agility. ==== Monkeywrencher ==== If you choose to attack a mechanical or electrical device or piece of equipment, such as a suit of power armor, a rifle, or a similar item, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Damage. With a second rank, your circumstance bonus is +5. As a rule of thumb, this bonus only applies to mechanisms that have moving parts, require electrical power, or are fueled by a chemical reaction. ==== Readied Rituals ==== Some ritualists have mastered the technique of performing an ritual and leaving it “paused” just on the edge of completion, such that it only takes a moment (and a standard action) to finish and activate them, allowing the ritualist to have an effect “readied” for quick use. Readied Ritual is a Benefit advantage (Hero’s Handbook, Chapter 5), with the following requirements and benefits: * To have the Readied Rituals Benefit, you must have the Ritualist advantage and be trained in its associated Ritual Skill. * You can only ready rituals with a cost equal to or less than your associated Ritual Skill bonus. More difficult rituals are too hard to hold “at the ready” without completing them. * You may have only one ritual readied at a time per rank of this advantage. * Readying a ritual takes the same amount of time as performing it, and you can fast-cast a ritual to ready it, if you wish. ==== Skill Knack ==== A skill knack allows a character to ignore one type of circumstance penalty for skill use. Existing examples include Improvised Tools (which removes the circumstance penalty for not having tools) or Animal Empathy (which removes the circumstance penalty on using interaction skills with animals). Other possibilities include removing circumstance penalties for Acrobatics or Athletics (moving at normal speeds, not vulnerable while in use, etc.), penalties for difficult disguises with Deception, and so forth. This advantage may not be taken to ignore the -5 penalty for Feinting, Demoralizing, or Tricking as a move action. ==== Strongarm ==== You can apply your Strength modifier rather than your Presence modifier to Intimidation checks. ==== Unnerving Assault ==== When you have a critical success on a noticeable attack or resistance check, you may make an immediate check to demoralize. ==== Withstand Damage ==== When using the Defend action, you can reduce active defenses by up to 2 to increase your Toughness by the same amount. A second rank allows you to take a reduction and increase of up to 5. == Banned Build Options == === Advantages === '''Fast Grab''' is banned. To replicate the same effect, use Linked Move Object (Reduced Range, Limited to Grabs). Note that if you remove the Limited to Grabs, the same effect power also works as a knockback effect. '''Holding Back''' is banned. '''Jack of All Trades''' is illegal if the character has an Intellect of 7 or higher. Additionally, please be aware that many GMs rule that Jack of All Trades (which allows you to roll skills despite being trained but does not actually make you trained) limit the maximum DC you can succeed at to DC 15, following guidelines on untrained Expertise skill usage. Total ranks of '''Luck''' are capped to PL.<blockquote>e.g. a PL8 character may have no more than 8 ranks of Luck, across all types of Luck.</blockquote>Individual types of '''Luck''' are capped to PL/2, rounded up. The exception is Luck: Recover, which is capped at 1 rank.<blockquote>e.g. a PL9 character may have no more than 5 ranks of Luck in a single type of Luck</blockquote>'''Luck: Inspire''' is banned. === Powers === The '''Affliction''' power should not have more than a single rank of Extra Condition (that is, imposing 3 or more conditions at once) unless they are Limited Degree 2 (that is, only imposing first-degree conditions regardless of degrees of failure). If an Affliction applies Vulnerable or Defenseless and is Overcome by Dodge or Parry, it is Overcome by the unmodified Defense, without applying Vulnerable or Defenseless. Additionally, note that combining the Defenseless condition with the Disabled or Stunned conditions will be scrutinized heavily. '''Concealment''' that includes normal vision should have an appropriate limitation preventing it from being in use all the time for permanent Concealment bonuses.<blockquote>Passive is typically the most balanced option. Concentration is also a suitable limit. Partial may be appropriate if the character's Dodge/Parry are not capped against their Toughness.</blockquote>The Area extra may not be taken on the '''Deflect''' power. '''Flight''' may not be used with Limits to recreate other types of movement (e.g. Flight with Limited: Can Only Travel in Ballistic Arcs as a better version of Leaping, or Flight with Limited: Must remain in contact with a solid or liquid surface as a better version of Speed with Wall-Crawling and Water-Walking).<blockquote>However, note that Flight with a -1pp Quirk can be used to replicate wuxia-style movement, rather than Leaping with Limited Wall Crawling and Limited Water-Walking.</blockquote>The '''Growth''' and '''Shrinking''' powers as 2/r ranked powers are illegal. Instead, size should be set using a Feature, changing size rank by 1 category per PP or up to 3 mass categories per PP.<blockquote>Keep in mind that the default size and weight is Size Rank -2 (3-6 feet) and Mass Rank 2 (100-200 pounds). Characters may be very slightly outside this range for flavor reasons (e.g. being up to 6'6" and 250 pounds) but still count as Size Rank -2 and Mass Rank 2.</blockquote>The '''Healing''' power is illegal if taken at 6 ranks or higher. Additionally, the Area extra may not be taken on Healing. The area extra may not be taken on the '''Luck Control''' power. The '''Morph''' power may not be taken with more than 1 rank of Metamorph. The '''Sure-Footed''' option of the '''Movement''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to overcoming hindrances). The '''Regeneration''' power may only be taken at 1, 2, 5, or 10 ranks. If taken at 10 ranks, it must have a -1/rank Limitation.<blockquote>Please note that Regeneration which doesn't apply to a single common damage descriptor (such as Fire) is a -2pp Quirk, not a -1/rank Limit. To count as a Limit, it must not function against at a very common damage descriptor (such as Slashing/Piercing, Bludgeoning, or Energy), or at least 3 common damage descriptors.</blockquote>The '''Remote Sensing''' power is illegal if usable at the same time as a Perception Ranged attacking power (Affliction, Damage, or Weaken) with descriptors allowing it to be used through the Remote Sensing<blockquote>e.g. a Perception Ranged Damage power representing shooting a gun that always hits would be usable at the same time as a Remote Sensing power representing remotely accessing cameras, as the descriptors wouldn't allow them to be combined. A power representing astral projection and another representing a spiritual attack, however, have descriptors that can be combined, and therefore may not be used at the same time, but would be legal if taken as separate slots in the same Array.</blockquote>An Accurate sense with '''Penetrates Concealment''' must have a Limit preventing it from being activated at all times.<blockquote>Concentration and Distracting are both appropriate Limits for most similar powers.</blockquote>The '''Swimming''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to while Swimming) and consider Skill Mastery: Athletics The '''Variable''' power may never be taken as an Alternate Effect, nor may it have Alternate Effects - essentially, it cannot be part of an Array. Additionally, the '''Variable''' power may not be upgraded to a Free Action if it has 4 or more ranks. === Power Flaws and Extras === The '''Area''' extra cannot be taken as partial ranks on a power with an effect rank above your PL, and it must be at least 2 ranks below the full ranks of the power. The '''Innate''' extra is banned for any power other than Create. The '''Reaction''' extra is illegal on any power with a rank greater than half PL. The '''Triggered''' extra is illegal at a rank greater than half PL (not counting a rank to have a Variable Trigger or Selective trigger). === Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects === All of the above are allowed, but we restrict some elements of them and how they interact to prevent powergaming and anti-climactic combats where one PC effortlessly ends the encounter. * Attacks with Effect Ranks equal to Power Level are allowed two Ranks of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack exceeds Power Level, it is allowed one less Rank of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack is below Power Level, it is allowed one more Rank of Improved Critical. * Attacks with Multiattack and/or a Linked Effect applied are allowed two less Ranks of Improved Critical for each option applied. * If an Attack under these rules would be allowed fewer than zero Ranks of Improved Critical, that Power is not allowed on our server. * Powers with significant Flaws or that don’t meet Power Level caps may get per-case exceptions. * Powers still cannot have more than four Ranks of Improved Critical, as normal. <blockquote>e.g. for a PL10 character, a Damage 10 power may have either Multiattack or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 12 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have Multiattack. A Damage 6 Power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 2 or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 4 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3. e.g. for a PL8 character, a Damage 8 power may have either a Linked Effect or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 10 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have a Linked Effect. A Damage 4 power may have a Linked Effect and Multiattack on both effects, or a Linked Effect and Improved Critical 2, or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 2 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3.</blockquote> == Rules of Fair Play == There are several rules - both mechanical and otherwise - which GMs are asked to keep in mind when running games and players are asked to keep in mind when building. Some of the most important as as follows: '''Mechanics should be backed up by thematics, and vice versa.''' If something is on your character sheet, it should be thematically coherent, able to be explained by your character's backstory and concept. Certain powers, advantages, and skills are particularly effective for any build (e.g. Luck Control, Evasion, or Perception) even if they don't thematically make sense for a character - make sure that you only make purchases which make sense for your character's concept. Part of this is not giving your character ridiculously high skill bonuses unless their concept actually demands it, and using Limited versions of those traits when appropriate (for example, a character with good hearing would likely have Perception Limited to Hearing rather than normal Perception). Similarly, do your best to make sure that aspects of your character are represented in their mechanics as well - often through Abilities and Expertise skills. '''Characters shouldn't be able to do everything on their own.''' This is a team game, and characters who are capable of dealing with any situation and every problem better than anyone else aren't fun to play with. Your character should have both strengths and weaknesses. '''Generalist characters shouldn't outshine specialist characters.''' Again, this is a team game, and everyone deserve a chance to have their character shine in their particular field. Characters with specialized, narrow skill sets and concepts should be able to be the expert in their field and when their concept is relevant - meanwhile, characters with broad skill sets and generalist concepts shine when a specialist isn't present, able to be more adaptable to multiple situations. As part of this concept, '''narrow skills should be more capable than broader skills.''' This is generally accomplished via giving the narrow skill a lower DC than the broader skill - for example, the information that someone with Expertise: Biology might get on a DC 15 check might only be available to someone with Expertise: Science on a DC 20 check. As a general rule, a narrow skill should have DCs 5 lower than the broader skill, although this may vary depending on exactly how much narrower the skill is. '''A Complication is an invitation.''' Adding a complication to a character's sheet is an implicit invitation for the GM to use that complication - similarly, an Uncontrolled power is an invitation for the GM to use that power. Conversely, leaving a complication ''off'' of a character's sheet should tell the GM ''not'' to use it, even if it's one that would be reasonable for the character to have - for example, a character with a secret identity but not a Secret Identity complication shouldn't be threatened with having their identity threatened. '''Be kind and don't break the game.''' There are numerous ways to combine disparate aspects of the system that are unbalanced, such as combining Untapped Potential and Extraordinary Effort, using an Environment power or similar to provide your own Favored Environment, and using Improved Aim then Extra Effort and Power Attack to attack with +5 to hit and +5 to rank in a single round. Please don't do things like this. GMs will keep an eye out for builds that could theoretically do so, and may quiz the player to make sure that they don't plan to do so, or may require changes to the sheet even to things that are not hard-banned. == Guidelines for Unclear Options == The following are guidelines for how to deal with parts of the system with little or insufficient guidance. === Pricing Guidelines === The Feature power can be used to gain circumstance bonuses to certain rolls, but should not do so at greater efficiency than Skill Ranks. General guidelines are as follows:<blockquote>A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill, or a particular use of multiple skills, only in a limited set of circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. Compare to the Attractive advantage to see if the circumstances are limited enough. A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. A Feature that gives a non-circumstantial bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should be a Limited Enhanced Skill, giving 4 skill ranks for that specific use for 1pp, rather than a Feature.</blockquote>Immunity can be used for descriptors outside those explicitly listed in the book. General guidelines to the price of these are as follows:<blockquote> 1PP: descriptors that are primarily flavor, or immunity to individual people's powers. 2PP: descriptors that are particularly rare, or subsets of 5pp immunities (e.g. Immunity to a specific Interaction skill or emotion rather than all Interaction skills or emotions). 5PP: descriptors that are common, but only as used for a single power (e.g. Damage of a specific descriptor, a particular type of Affliction such as entrapment or sensory attacks). 10pp: descriptors that are common, as used for multiple powers. 20pp: extremely common descriptors that subsume multiple 10pp descriptors. Note that Slashing and Piercing count as a single 20pp descriptor.</blockquote> === When to Use Different Options === MnM has a number of ways to build similar powers using different effects. Here are some common points of confusion: ==== Protecting Others: Create, Deflect, Affects Others Immunity? ==== Create should be used when your power can provide shelter from area attacks, or when it can be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical forcefield that blocks all attacks, until shattered by a powerful strike.</blockquote>Deflect should be used when your power can redirect attacks, or when it can be pierced by a sufficiently accurate attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical shield that darts around an area to intercept attacks, but may fail to block a strike that comes to quickly.</blockquote>Affects Others Immunity should be used when your power is unbreakable, but only functions against a limited subset of attacks.<blockquote>e.g. a magical ward against fire, but which doesn't protect against bullets.</blockquote> ==== Extreme Talent: Skills or Powers? ==== A number of forms of extreme talent can be represented as either Skills or as Powers. Parkour is one of the most common examples, possible to build either as simple high Athletics or as a rank of Speed, Leaping, and Wall-Crawling - another common example is heightened senses, possible as either high Perception or as various Sense options. The reason to build with Powers rather than Skills generally comes down to one of two reasons. First is consistency - as most power-built options of this type don't call for rolls, a character with high Athletics will have a chance to fail while climbing a wall in a way that a character with Wall-Crawling doesn't. Second is adding options that the skills alone don't grant - no point at the Perception skill will let you echolocate, but Senses 2: Accurate Hearing will. The reason to build with Skills rather than Powers generally comes down to wanting the other benefits provided by that skill which the power version doesn't give, often due to being more focused - Senses: Extended Vision allows you to see much farther away, but it doesn't let you spot things around you as well as +10 Perception does. Similarly, while a power-built Parkour power may allow you to climb faster than simple Athletics, it doesn't help you escape from Grabs. In the end, choosing between them largely comes down to personal preference. ==== Draining Effects: Affliction or Weaken? ==== Affliction (Impaired->Disabled->Transformed, limited to the specific trait being drained) is a way of representing draining attacks that can sometimes be more appropriate than Weaken. Affliction is best used when the drained trait would return all at once rather than slowly over time. ==== Versatility: Variable or an Array? ==== The Variable power should only be used when it is necessary for a concept. Keep in mind that most concepts who are designed to be versatile are able to accomplish that versatility using Power Stunts. Examples of concepts which may have genuine need for Variable include Power Mimics, versatile Shapeshifters, and focused Inventors. One way to determine if Variable is necessary is to try building the most common sets that Variable would use, then compare the cost of an array including all of those options to the price of a Variable that covers all of those options. As a general guideline, Variable is only cheaper if the array would include at least 2-3 options for each rank of Variable. Another way to see if Variable is necessary is to consider that same list of common sets, and try to come up with scenarios where you might need to use something outside of those prebuilt options. If you have difficulty imagining scenarios not covered by those sets, Variable is likely not necessary. ==== Inventors: the Invention advantage, Devices, or Slow Variable (Devices)? ==== Some characters have the skillset to create impressive works of technology or magical relics as an integral part of their concept. However, there are multiple ways to represent this. Note that these options are not exclusive. The Invention advantage best represents a character creating a new, temporary invention during a storyline to counter a specific threat. As it is relatively cheap - and also difficult to use in a living world setting - it is best taken as a flavor purchase, often on top of the other options. The Removable flaw, which turns a set of powers into a Removable or Easily Removable Device, best represents a specific set of items that are integral to a character's concept. If a character has the same inventions each time they appear, those inventions are most likely Devices. Slow Variable (Devices) gives a character a selection of PP which can be used to buy any Devices, reassigning them during downtime. If a character switches between different devices often, bringing different options to different appearances, those devices most likely come from a Slow Variable power. ==== Ridiculous Weapon Skills: Devices or Powers with a Quirk? ==== There are two ways to build a swordsman with ridiculous weapon skills, such as deflecting bullets. Either his sword is special, or they are. This also applies for characters like Green Arrow, Deadshot, and similar. If the skills are only usable with one particular weapon - due to a spiritual bonding, the weapon's inherent magical properties, a psychological belief, or any other reason - they should be built with a Device. If the skills are usable with any weapon of the appropriate type, they should be built as Powers with a -1 Quirk: Requires a [weapon]. The character will then either have a Device or a piece of Equipment which provides access to that Power. ==== Utility Belts, Guns, and Similar: Devices or Equipment? ==== The Removable Flaw should be used to create a Device whenever one or more of the following is true:<blockquote>The item isn't obtainable by an average wealthy person in the setting (e.g. a magical sword in a setting with magic kept secret from normal society). The item is unbreakable by ordinary means (e.g. a shield made from adamantium). The item uses technology with no theoretical basis under current understanding of physics (e.g. a personal teleporter, even if a rich person in the setting might have access to one). The item can only be used by one person and no one else, under normal circumstances. The item is important enough to the character's concept that taking it from them is a serious hindrance not to their ability to function, but to their ability to fulfill their concept. The item is not a prebuilt piece of Equipment out of the book, and is built with a rank of 7 or more.</blockquote>If none of the above is true, the item may be built as Equipment. ==== Unbreakable Items: Devices or Complications? ==== The Removable Flaw comes with three major drawbacks - that they can be destroyed, that they can be disarmed, and that they may not always be present. The first two drawbacks are mechanical, and the third is narrative. Removable Devices can be destroyed, but not stolen - Easily Removable Devices can be both destroyed and broken. However, you can pay extra to make a Device Indestructible. An Easily Removable Device can be Indestructible, if descriptors justify it. A Removable Device should never be Indestructible - if it would be, instead simply build it as a normal Power or set of Powers, and add a Power Loss Complication. ==== Sidekicks and Summons: the Minion Advantage, the Sidekick advantage, the Summon power, or flavor? ==== Most of the time, side characters of any kind shouldn't be built as Minions, Sidekicks, or Summon. Instead, build them as flavor for other powers.<blockquote>e.g. someone who summons ghosts should, rather than having Summon, have an array of ranged powers with Indirect 4, representing ghosts attacking on their behalf. e.g. someone with a helper who feeds them information through an earpiece should, rather than having a Sidekick, should have an Enhanced Trait power giving them extra skills and Advantages, as well as a Complication representing that that helper can be targeted. e.g. someone with a robotic drone that they control remotely should, rather than having Summon, have their character sheet be built as the drone, with Immortality representing rebuilding the drone, and a Complication representing their actual self.</blockquote>There are some exceptions to this - for example, a character whose concept is that they are two twins working together. Cases like these can generally be modeled by building the characters at a lower PL than the character is legally considered, using the guideline that two characters of PL A are equivalent to one character of PL A+2. For example, two twins built with PL6 offenses and defenses can be submitted as a PL8 character. Speak to a GM to determine if your concept fits this situation. ==== Steeds: Powers or Vehicles? ==== If, conceptually, you are always on your steed, then it should be a Power, using Removable or a Power Loss Complication to represent that it can take damage or be taken from you. Otherwise, it should be a Vehicle. This applies whether your steed is a flying carpet, a motorcycle, or a flying horse. ==== Moving Homes: Vehicles with Rooms or Headquarters with Moveable? ==== Imagine that your moving home is attacked as part of a game: If, in that scene, you pilot it to avoid dangers in the environment and your allies strike back through windows or using weapons built into the home, it is a Vehicle. If your home is invaded by attackers, and you fight them off within your home itself, it is a Headquarters. 4630f088e2ddaf90c8d2f9bee24d656fbae4073c 29 28 2024-01-08T14:42:01Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki == Requirements for Characters == In simple terms, these are a handful of minimum requirements that all characters must satisfy in order to be approved. === Mechanics === Characters must be between PL8 and PL10, although some concepts using Sidekick or Summon may be allowed to build at lower PLs. All characters must spend all of their starting PP (150 power points, regardless of PL). Characters must meet at least 2/3 of their Defensive PL Caps, and their third must be within 2 ranks of being capped. Additionally, none of their Defenses can be less than half their PL.<blockquote>The three Defensive PL Caps are Toughness/Dodge, Toughness/Parry, and Fortitude/Will e.g. A PL8 character with all Defenses except Dodge at 8, with Dodge being 6, is acceptable. If Parry is also 6, they are failing 2 of their caps, and must revise. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable defenses outside of sheer rank.</blockquote>Characters must have at least one PL-capped attack which can defeat a foe (although not necessarily through incapacitation). Additionally, this attack must have a rank of at least half their PL.<blockquote>This attack can be Damage, or an Affliction that imposes a 3rd degree condition other than Unaware or Asleep. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable attacks outside of sheer rank.</blockquote> === Complications === All characters ''must'' have a complication representing why they act as a hero. If they have no reason to be a hero, they are not a PC. All characters must have at least one complication in addition to their Motivation. === Additional Requirements === Characters may not use anything listed in the '''Banned Build Options''' section. Please pay special attention to the rules around Multiattack and Linked Effects. == Options from the Books == As per the optional rule in Power Profiles, the Luck advantage can be bought for hero point benefits beyond re-rolling a die roll. You may purchase Luck for any use of a hero point (including to fuel fortune advantages such as Beginner's Luck) with the exception of Luck: Inspire - that is, points to fuel the Inspire advantage, not the Inspiration use of a Hero Point, which is still allowed. Constructs can use Extra Effort, suffering the Impaired -> Disabled -> Incapacitated conditions instead of Fatigued -> Exhausted -> Impaired. If a construct PC is hit by an Affects Objects effect, they resist at Power Level. GMs may allow certain non-minion construct NPCs to resist Affects Objects effects at PL as well. == Homebrew Advantages == ==== Avoidance ==== You have a +2 circumstance bonus to skill checks to escape grabs and similar ensnaring effects. A second rank of this advantage increases the circumstance bonus to +5. This bonus only applies to escaping, not to the initial check to avoid the grab or snare. ==== Benefit, Assessment based on Tactics ==== Your ability to read others' combat skill is based in your own knowledge of combat, rather than your ability to read others in general. When you use Assessment, you may do so using your Tactics skill rather than your Insight. ==== Born for the Stage ==== You may make untrained checks with any artistic or performance skill as if you were trained, and gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the active use of that skill. ==== Damaging Escape ==== When you escape from a grab, you get an unarmed attack against the opponent as a reaction. You still have to roll to hit. ==== Domineer ==== Your threats stick with opponents and leave them distracted. When you successfully demoralize an opponent with the Intimidation skill, they remain Impaired for a number of rounds equal to the Degrees of Success on your initial check. With four or more Degrees of Success, your target is Disabled until the end of your next turn, then Impaired for the remaining duration. Additional attempts to demoralize the same opponent replace the remaining duration rather than add to it. ==== Exuding Confidence ==== You may use your Presence score to determine your Will defenses instead of Awareness. ==== Favored Friend ==== You have a particular type of ally you've studied or are especially effective with. It may be a type of creature (aliens, animals, constructs, metahumans, undead, etc.), a profession (soldiers, police officers, artists, etc.) or any other category the GM approves. Especially broad categories like 'humans' or ‘heroes’ are not permitted. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion checks dealing with your Favored Friend. This circumstance bonus is not limited by power level. ==== Intuitive Reflexes ==== You may use your Awareness score to determine your initiative, instead of your Agility. ==== Monkeywrencher ==== If you choose to attack a mechanical or electrical device or piece of equipment, such as a suit of power armor, a rifle, or a similar item, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Damage. With a second rank, your circumstance bonus is +5. As a rule of thumb, this bonus only applies to mechanisms that have moving parts, require electrical power, or are fueled by a chemical reaction. ==== Readied Rituals ==== Some ritualists have mastered the technique of performing an ritual and leaving it “paused” just on the edge of completion, such that it only takes a moment (and a standard action) to finish and activate them, allowing the ritualist to have an effect “readied” for quick use. Readied Ritual is a Benefit advantage (Hero’s Handbook, Chapter 5), with the following requirements and benefits: * To have the Readied Rituals Benefit, you must have the Ritualist advantage and be trained in its associated Ritual Skill. * You can only ready rituals with a cost equal to or less than your associated Ritual Skill bonus. More difficult rituals are too hard to hold “at the ready” without completing them. * You may have only one ritual readied at a time per rank of this advantage. * Readying a ritual takes the same amount of time as performing it, and you can fast-cast a ritual to ready it, if you wish. ==== Skill Knack ==== A skill knack allows a character to ignore one type of circumstance penalty for skill use. Existing examples include Improvised Tools (which removes the circumstance penalty for not having tools) or Animal Empathy (which removes the circumstance penalty on using interaction skills with animals). Other possibilities include removing circumstance penalties for Acrobatics or Athletics (moving at normal speeds, not vulnerable while in use, etc.), penalties for difficult disguises with Deception, and so forth. This advantage may not be taken to ignore the -5 penalty for Feinting, Demoralizing, or Tricking as a move action. ==== Strongarm ==== You can apply your Strength modifier rather than your Presence modifier to Intimidation checks. ==== Unnerving Assault ==== When you have a critical success on a noticeable attack or resistance check, you may make an immediate check to demoralize. ==== Withstand Damage ==== When using the Defend action, you can reduce active defenses by up to 2 to increase your Toughness by the same amount. A second rank allows you to take a reduction and increase of up to 5. == Banned Build Options == === Advantages === '''Fast Grab''' is banned. To replicate the same effect, use Linked Move Object (Reduced Range, Limited to Grabs). Note that if you remove the Limited to Grabs, the same effect power also works as a knockback effect. '''Holding Back''' is banned. '''Jack of All Trades''' is illegal if the character has an Intellect of 7 or higher. Additionally, please be aware that many GMs rule that Jack of All Trades (which allows you to roll skills despite being trained but does not actually make you trained) limit the maximum DC you can succeed at to DC 15, following guidelines on untrained Expertise skill usage. Total ranks of '''Luck''' are capped to PL.<blockquote>e.g. a PL8 character may have no more than 8 ranks of Luck, across all types of Luck.</blockquote>Individual types of '''Luck''' are capped to PL/2, rounded up. The exception is Luck: Recover, which is capped at 1 rank.<blockquote>e.g. a PL9 character may have no more than 5 ranks of Luck in a single type of Luck</blockquote>'''Luck: Inspire''' is banned. === Powers === The '''Affliction''' power should not have more than a single rank of Extra Condition (that is, imposing 3 or more conditions at once) unless they are Limited Degree 2 (that is, only imposing first-degree conditions regardless of degrees of failure). If an Affliction applies Vulnerable or Defenseless and is Overcome by Dodge or Parry, it is Overcome by the unmodified Defense, without applying Vulnerable or Defenseless. Additionally, note that combining the Defenseless condition with the Disabled or Stunned conditions will be scrutinized heavily. '''Concealment''' that includes normal vision should have an appropriate limitation preventing it from being in use all the time for permanent Concealment bonuses.<blockquote>Passive is typically the most balanced option. Concentration is also a suitable limit. Partial - or even no limit at all, may also be appropriate if the character's attacks and Dodge/Parry are not capped against their Toughness.</blockquote>The Area extra may not be taken on the '''Deflect''' power. '''Flight''' may not be used with Limits to recreate other types of movement (e.g. Flight with Limited: Can Only Travel in Ballistic Arcs as a better version of Leaping, or Flight with Limited: Must remain in contact with a solid or liquid surface as a better version of Speed with Wall-Crawling and Water-Walking).<blockquote>However, note that Flight with a -1pp Quirk can be used to replicate wuxia-style movement, rather than Leaping with Limited Wall Crawling and Limited Water-Walking.</blockquote>The '''Growth''' and '''Shrinking''' powers as 2/r ranked powers are illegal. Instead, size should be set using a Feature, changing size rank by 1 category per PP or up to 3 mass categories per PP.<blockquote>Keep in mind that the default size and weight is Size Rank -2 (3-6 feet) and Mass Rank 2 (100-200 pounds). Characters may be very slightly outside this range for flavor reasons (e.g. being up to 6'6" and 250 pounds) but still count as Size Rank -2 and Mass Rank 2.</blockquote>The '''Healing''' power is illegal if taken at 6 ranks or higher. Additionally, the Area extra may not be taken on Healing. The area extra may not be taken on the '''Luck Control''' power. The '''Morph''' power may not be taken with more than 1 rank of Metamorph. The '''Sure-Footed''' option of the '''Movement''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to overcoming hindrances). The '''Regeneration''' power may only be taken at 1, 2, 5, or 10 ranks. If taken at 10 ranks, it must have a -1/rank Limitation.<blockquote>Please note that Regeneration which doesn't apply to a single common damage descriptor (such as Fire) is a -2pp Quirk, not a -1/rank Limit. To count as a Limit, it must not function against at a very common damage descriptor (such as Slashing/Piercing, Bludgeoning, or Energy), or at least 3 common damage descriptors.</blockquote>The '''Remote Sensing''' power is illegal if usable at the same time as a Perception Ranged attacking power (Affliction, Damage, or Weaken) with descriptors allowing it to be used through the Remote Sensing<blockquote>e.g. a Perception Ranged Damage power representing shooting a gun that always hits would be usable at the same time as a Remote Sensing power representing remotely accessing cameras, as the descriptors wouldn't allow them to be combined. A power representing astral projection and another representing a spiritual attack, however, have descriptors that can be combined, and therefore may not be used at the same time, but would be legal if taken as separate slots in the same Array.</blockquote>An Accurate sense with '''Penetrates Concealment''' must have a Limit preventing it from being activated at all times.<blockquote>Concentration and Distracting are both appropriate Limits for most similar powers.</blockquote>The '''Swimming''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to while Swimming) and consider Skill Mastery: Athletics The '''Variable''' power may never be taken as an Alternate Effect, nor may it have Alternate Effects - essentially, it cannot be part of an Array. Additionally, the '''Variable''' power may not be upgraded to a Free Action if it has 4 or more ranks. === Power Flaws and Extras === The '''Area''' extra cannot be taken as partial ranks on a power with an effect rank above your PL, and it must be at least 2 ranks below the full ranks of the power. The '''Innate''' extra is banned for any power other than Create. The '''Reaction''' extra is illegal on any power with a rank greater than half PL. The '''Triggered''' extra is illegal at a rank greater than half PL (not counting a rank to have a Variable Trigger or Selective trigger). === Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects === All of the above are allowed, but we restrict some elements of them and how they interact to prevent powergaming and anti-climactic combats where one PC effortlessly ends the encounter. * Attacks with Effect Ranks equal to Power Level are allowed two Ranks of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack exceeds Power Level, it is allowed one less Rank of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack is below Power Level, it is allowed one more Rank of Improved Critical. * Attacks with Multiattack and/or a Linked Effect applied are allowed two less Ranks of Improved Critical for each option applied. * If an Attack under these rules would be allowed fewer than zero Ranks of Improved Critical, that Power is not allowed on our server. * Powers with significant Flaws or that don’t meet Power Level caps may get per-case exceptions. * Powers still cannot have more than four Ranks of Improved Critical, as normal. <blockquote>e.g. for a PL10 character, a Damage 10 power may have either Multiattack or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 12 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have Multiattack. A Damage 6 Power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 2 or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 4 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3. e.g. for a PL8 character, a Damage 8 power may have either a Linked Effect or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 10 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have a Linked Effect. A Damage 4 power may have a Linked Effect and Multiattack on both effects, or a Linked Effect and Improved Critical 2, or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 2 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3.</blockquote> == Rules of Fair Play == There are several rules - both mechanical and otherwise - which GMs are asked to keep in mind when running games and players are asked to keep in mind when building. Some of the most important as as follows: '''Mechanics should be backed up by thematics, and vice versa.''' If something is on your character sheet, it should be thematically coherent, able to be explained by your character's backstory and concept. Certain powers, advantages, and skills are particularly effective for any build (e.g. Luck Control, Evasion, or Perception) even if they don't thematically make sense for a character - make sure that you only make purchases which make sense for your character's concept. Part of this is not giving your character ridiculously high skill bonuses unless their concept actually demands it, and using Limited versions of those traits when appropriate (for example, a character with good hearing would likely have Perception Limited to Hearing rather than normal Perception). Similarly, do your best to make sure that aspects of your character are represented in their mechanics as well - often through Abilities and Expertise skills. '''Characters shouldn't be able to do everything on their own.''' This is a team game, and characters who are capable of dealing with any situation and every problem better than anyone else aren't fun to play with. Your character should have both strengths and weaknesses. '''Generalist characters shouldn't outshine specialist characters.''' Again, this is a team game, and everyone deserve a chance to have their character shine in their particular field. Characters with specialized, narrow skill sets and concepts should be able to be the expert in their field and when their concept is relevant - meanwhile, characters with broad skill sets and generalist concepts shine when a specialist isn't present, able to be more adaptable to multiple situations. As part of this concept, '''narrow skills should be more capable than broader skills.''' This is generally accomplished via giving the narrow skill a lower DC than the broader skill - for example, the information that someone with Expertise: Biology might get on a DC 15 check might only be available to someone with Expertise: Science on a DC 20 check. As a general rule, a narrow skill should have DCs 5 lower than the broader skill, although this may vary depending on exactly how much narrower the skill is. '''A Complication is an invitation.''' Adding a complication to a character's sheet is an implicit invitation for the GM to use that complication - similarly, an Uncontrolled power is an invitation for the GM to use that power. Conversely, leaving a complication ''off'' of a character's sheet should tell the GM ''not'' to use it, even if it's one that would be reasonable for the character to have - for example, a character with a secret identity but not a Secret Identity complication shouldn't be threatened with having their identity threatened. '''Be kind and don't break the game.''' There are numerous ways to combine disparate aspects of the system that are unbalanced, such as combining Untapped Potential and Extraordinary Effort, using an Environment power or similar to provide your own Favored Environment, and using Improved Aim then Extra Effort and Power Attack to attack with +5 to hit and +5 to rank in a single round. Please don't do things like this. GMs will keep an eye out for builds that could theoretically do so, and may quiz the player to make sure that they don't plan to do so, or may require changes to the sheet even to things that are not hard-banned. == Guidelines for Unclear Options == The following are guidelines for how to deal with parts of the system with little or insufficient guidance. === Pricing Guidelines === The Feature power can be used to gain circumstance bonuses to certain rolls, but should not do so at greater efficiency than Skill Ranks. General guidelines are as follows:<blockquote>A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill, or a particular use of multiple skills, only in a limited set of circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. Compare to the Attractive advantage to see if the circumstances are limited enough. A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. A Feature that gives a non-circumstantial bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should be a Limited Enhanced Skill, giving 4 skill ranks for that specific use for 1pp, rather than a Feature.</blockquote>Immunity can be used for descriptors outside those explicitly listed in the book. General guidelines to the price of these are as follows:<blockquote> 1PP: descriptors that are primarily flavor, or immunity to individual people's powers. 2PP: descriptors that are particularly rare, or subsets of 5pp immunities (e.g. Immunity to a specific Interaction skill or emotion rather than all Interaction skills or emotions). 5PP: descriptors that are common, but only as used for a single power (e.g. Damage of a specific descriptor, a particular type of Affliction such as entrapment or sensory attacks). 10pp: descriptors that are common, as used for multiple powers. 20pp: extremely common descriptors that subsume multiple 10pp descriptors. Note that Slashing and Piercing count as a single 20pp descriptor.</blockquote> === When to Use Different Options === MnM has a number of ways to build similar powers using different effects. Here are some common points of confusion: ==== Protecting Others: Create, Deflect, Affects Others Immunity? ==== Create should be used when your power can provide shelter from area attacks, or when it can be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical forcefield that blocks all attacks, until shattered by a powerful strike.</blockquote>Deflect should be used when your power can redirect attacks, or when it can be pierced by a sufficiently accurate attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical shield that darts around an area to intercept attacks, but may fail to block a strike that comes to quickly.</blockquote>Affects Others Immunity should be used when your power is unbreakable, but only functions against a limited subset of attacks.<blockquote>e.g. a magical ward against fire, but which doesn't protect against bullets.</blockquote> ==== Extreme Talent: Skills or Powers? ==== A number of forms of extreme talent can be represented as either Skills or as Powers. Parkour is one of the most common examples, possible to build either as simple high Athletics or as a rank of Speed, Leaping, and Wall-Crawling - another common example is heightened senses, possible as either high Perception or as various Sense options. The reason to build with Powers rather than Skills generally comes down to one of two reasons. First is consistency - as most power-built options of this type don't call for rolls, a character with high Athletics will have a chance to fail while climbing a wall in a way that a character with Wall-Crawling doesn't. Second is adding options that the skills alone don't grant - no point at the Perception skill will let you echolocate, but Senses 2: Accurate Hearing will. The reason to build with Skills rather than Powers generally comes down to wanting the other benefits provided by that skill which the power version doesn't give, often due to being more focused - Senses: Extended Vision allows you to see much farther away, but it doesn't let you spot things around you as well as +10 Perception does. Similarly, while a power-built Parkour power may allow you to climb faster than simple Athletics, it doesn't help you escape from Grabs. In the end, choosing between them largely comes down to personal preference. ==== Draining Effects: Affliction or Weaken? ==== Affliction (Impaired->Disabled->Transformed, limited to the specific trait being drained) is a way of representing draining attacks that can sometimes be more appropriate than Weaken. Affliction is best used when the drained trait would return all at once rather than slowly over time. ==== Versatility: Variable or an Array? ==== The Variable power should only be used when it is necessary for a concept. Keep in mind that most concepts who are designed to be versatile are able to accomplish that versatility using Power Stunts. Examples of concepts which may have genuine need for Variable include Power Mimics, versatile Shapeshifters, and focused Inventors. One way to determine if Variable is necessary is to try building the most common sets that Variable would use, then compare the cost of an array including all of those options to the price of a Variable that covers all of those options. As a general guideline, Variable is only cheaper if the array would include at least 2-3 options for each rank of Variable. Another way to see if Variable is necessary is to consider that same list of common sets, and try to come up with scenarios where you might need to use something outside of those prebuilt options. If you have difficulty imagining scenarios not covered by those sets, Variable is likely not necessary. ==== Inventors: the Invention advantage, Devices, or Slow Variable (Devices)? ==== Some characters have the skillset to create impressive works of technology or magical relics as an integral part of their concept. However, there are multiple ways to represent this. Note that these options are not exclusive. The Invention advantage best represents a character creating a new, temporary invention during a storyline to counter a specific threat. As it is relatively cheap - and also difficult to use in a living world setting - it is best taken as a flavor purchase, often on top of the other options. The Removable flaw, which turns a set of powers into a Removable or Easily Removable Device, best represents a specific set of items that are integral to a character's concept. If a character has the same inventions each time they appear, those inventions are most likely Devices. Slow Variable (Devices) gives a character a selection of PP which can be used to buy any Devices, reassigning them during downtime. If a character switches between different devices often, bringing different options to different appearances, those devices most likely come from a Slow Variable power. ==== Ridiculous Weapon Skills: Devices or Powers with a Quirk? ==== There are two ways to build a swordsman with ridiculous weapon skills, such as deflecting bullets. Either his sword is special, or they are. This also applies for characters like Green Arrow, Deadshot, and similar. If the skills are only usable with one particular weapon - due to a spiritual bonding, the weapon's inherent magical properties, a psychological belief, or any other reason - they should be built with a Device. If the skills are usable with any weapon of the appropriate type, they should be built as Powers with a -1 Quirk: Requires a [weapon]. The character will then either have a Device or a piece of Equipment which provides access to that Power. ==== Utility Belts, Guns, and Similar: Devices or Equipment? ==== The Removable Flaw should be used to create a Device whenever one or more of the following is true:<blockquote>The item isn't obtainable by an average wealthy person in the setting (e.g. a magical sword in a setting with magic kept secret from normal society). The item is unbreakable by ordinary means (e.g. a shield made from adamantium). The item uses technology with no theoretical basis under current understanding of physics (e.g. a personal teleporter, even if a rich person in the setting might have access to one). The item can only be used by one person and no one else, under normal circumstances. The item is important enough to the character's concept that taking it from them is a serious hindrance not to their ability to function, but to their ability to fulfill their concept. The item is not a prebuilt piece of Equipment out of the book, and is built with a rank of 7 or more.</blockquote>If none of the above is true, the item may be built as Equipment. ==== Unbreakable Items: Devices or Complications? ==== The Removable Flaw comes with three major drawbacks - that they can be destroyed, that they can be disarmed, and that they may not always be present. The first two drawbacks are mechanical, and the third is narrative. Removable Devices can be destroyed, but not stolen - Easily Removable Devices can be both destroyed and broken. However, you can pay extra to make a Device Indestructible. An Easily Removable Device can be Indestructible, if descriptors justify it. A Removable Device should never be Indestructible - if it would be, instead simply build it as a normal Power or set of Powers, and add a Power Loss Complication. ==== Sidekicks and Summons: the Minion Advantage, the Sidekick advantage, the Summon power, or flavor? ==== Most of the time, side characters of any kind shouldn't be built as Minions, Sidekicks, or Summon. Instead, build them as flavor for other powers.<blockquote>e.g. someone who summons ghosts should, rather than having Summon, have an array of ranged powers with Indirect 4, representing ghosts attacking on their behalf. e.g. someone with a helper who feeds them information through an earpiece should, rather than having a Sidekick, should have an Enhanced Trait power giving them extra skills and Advantages, as well as a Complication representing that that helper can be targeted. e.g. someone with a robotic drone that they control remotely should, rather than having Summon, have their character sheet be built as the drone, with Immortality representing rebuilding the drone, and a Complication representing their actual self.</blockquote>There are some exceptions to this - for example, a character whose concept is that they are two twins working together. Cases like these can generally be modeled by building the characters at a lower PL than the character is legally considered, using the guideline that two characters of PL A are equivalent to one character of PL A+2. For example, two twins built with PL6 offenses and defenses can be submitted as a PL8 character. Speak to a GM to determine if your concept fits this situation. ==== Steeds: Powers or Vehicles? ==== If, conceptually, you are always on your steed, then it should be a Power, using Removable or a Power Loss Complication to represent that it can take damage or be taken from you. Otherwise, it should be a Vehicle. This applies whether your steed is a flying carpet, a motorcycle, or a flying horse. ==== Moving Homes: Vehicles with Rooms or Headquarters with Moveable? ==== Imagine that your moving home is attacked as part of a game: If, in that scene, you pilot it to avoid dangers in the environment and your allies strike back through windows or using weapons built into the home, it is a Vehicle. If your home is invaded by attackers, and you fight them off within your home itself, it is a Headquarters. 6d853ffd4a0f7e0eeab42ae4066aab86fe88dc2f 34 29 2024-01-11T20:49:57Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki == Requirements for Characters == In simple terms, these are a handful of minimum requirements that all characters must satisfy in order to be approved. === Mechanics === Characters must be between PL8 and PL10, although some concepts using Sidekick or Summon may be allowed to build at lower PLs. All characters must spend all of their starting PP (150 power points, regardless of PL). Characters must meet at least 2/3 of their Defensive PL Caps, and their third must be within 2 ranks of being capped. Additionally, none of their Defenses can be less than half their PL.<blockquote>The three Defensive PL Caps are Toughness/Dodge, Toughness/Parry, and Fortitude/Will e.g. A PL8 character with all Defenses except Dodge at 8, with Dodge being 6, is acceptable. If Parry is also 6, they are failing 2 of their caps, and must revise. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable defenses outside of sheer rank.</blockquote>Characters must have at least one PL-capped attack which can defeat a foe (although not necessarily through incapacitation). Additionally, this attack must have a rank of at least half their PL.<blockquote>This attack can be Damage, or an Affliction that imposes a 3rd degree condition other than Unaware or Asleep. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable attacks outside of sheer rank.</blockquote> === Complications === All characters ''must'' have a complication representing why they act as a hero. If they have no reason to be a hero, they are not a PC. All characters must have at least one complication in addition to their Motivation. === Additional Requirements === Characters may not use anything listed in the '''Banned Build Options''' section. Please pay special attention to the rules around Multiattack and Linked Effects. == Options from the Books == As per the optional rule in Power Profiles, the Luck advantage can be bought for hero point benefits beyond re-rolling a die roll. You may purchase Luck for any use of a hero point (including to fuel fortune advantages such as Beginner's Luck) with the exception of Luck: Inspire - that is, points to fuel the Inspire advantage, not the Inspiration use of a Hero Point, which is still allowed. Constructs can use Extra Effort, suffering the Impaired -> Disabled -> Incapacitated conditions instead of Fatigued -> Exhausted -> Impaired. If a construct PC is hit by an Affects Objects effect, they resist at Power Level. GMs may allow certain non-minion construct NPCs to resist Affects Objects effects at PL as well. == Homebrew Advantages == ==== Avoidance ==== You have a +2 circumstance bonus to skill checks to escape grabs and similar ensnaring effects. A second rank of this advantage increases the circumstance bonus to +5. This bonus only applies to escaping, not to the initial check to avoid the grab or snare. ==== Benefit, Assessment based on Tactics ==== Your ability to read others' combat skill is based in your own knowledge of combat, rather than your ability to read others in general. When you use Assessment, you may do so using your Tactics skill rather than your Insight. ==== Born for the Stage ==== You may make untrained checks with any artistic or performance skill as if you were trained, and gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the active use of that skill. ==== Damaging Escape ==== When you escape from a grab, you get an unarmed attack against the opponent as a reaction. You still have to roll to hit. ==== Domineer ==== Your threats stick with opponents and leave them distracted. When you successfully demoralize an opponent with the Intimidation skill, they remain Impaired for a number of rounds equal to the Degrees of Success on your initial check. With four or more Degrees of Success, your target is Disabled until the end of your next turn, then Impaired for the remaining duration. Additional attempts to demoralize the same opponent replace the remaining duration rather than add to it. ==== Exuding Confidence ==== You may use your Presence score to determine your Will defenses instead of Awareness. ==== Favored Friend ==== You have a particular type of ally you've studied or are especially effective with. It may be a type of creature (aliens, animals, constructs, metahumans, undead, etc.), a profession (soldiers, police officers, artists, etc.) or any other category the GM approves. Especially broad categories like 'humans' or ‘heroes’ are not permitted. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion checks dealing with your Favored Friend. This circumstance bonus is not limited by power level. ==== Intuitive Reflexes ==== You may use your Awareness score to determine your initiative, instead of your Agility. ==== Monkeywrencher ==== If you choose to attack a mechanical or electrical device or piece of equipment, such as a suit of power armor, a rifle, or a similar item, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Damage. With a second rank, your circumstance bonus is +5. As a rule of thumb, this bonus only applies to mechanisms that have moving parts, require electrical power, or are fueled by a chemical reaction. ==== Readied Rituals ==== Some ritualists have mastered the technique of performing an ritual and leaving it “paused” just on the edge of completion, such that it only takes a moment (and a standard action) to finish and activate them, allowing the ritualist to have an effect “readied” for quick use. Readied Ritual is a Benefit advantage (Hero’s Handbook, Chapter 5), with the following requirements and benefits: * To have the Readied Rituals Benefit, you must have the Ritualist advantage and be trained in its associated Ritual Skill. * You can only ready rituals with a cost equal to or less than your associated Ritual Skill bonus. More difficult rituals are too hard to hold “at the ready” without completing them. * You may have only one ritual readied at a time per rank of this advantage. * Readying a ritual takes the same amount of time as performing it, and you can fast-cast a ritual to ready it, if you wish. ==== Skill Knack ==== A skill knack allows a character to ignore one type of circumstance penalty for skill use. Existing examples include Improvised Tools (which removes the circumstance penalty for not having tools) or Animal Empathy (which removes the circumstance penalty on using interaction skills with animals). Other possibilities include removing circumstance penalties for Acrobatics or Athletics (moving at normal speeds, not vulnerable while in use, etc.), penalties for difficult disguises with Deception, and so forth. This advantage may not be taken to ignore the -5 penalty for Feinting, Demoralizing, or Tricking as a move action. ==== Strongarm ==== You can apply your Strength modifier rather than your Presence modifier to Intimidation checks. ==== Unnerving Assault ==== When you have a critical success on a noticeable attack or resistance check, you may make an immediate check to demoralize. ==== Withstand Damage ==== When using the Defend action, you can reduce active defenses by up to 2 to increase your Toughness by the same amount. A second rank allows you to take a reduction and increase of up to 5. == Banned Build Options == === Advantages === '''Fast Grab''' is banned. To replicate the same effect, use Linked Move Object (Reduced Range, Limited to Grabs). Note that if you remove the Limited to Grabs, the same effect power also works as a knockback effect. '''Holding Back''' is banned, with no exceptions. To replicate a similar effect, consider a character with an alt form or metamorph that raises them from PL8 to PL10, with a limit requiring them to spend hero points to shift PLs. '''Jack of All Trades''' is illegal if the character has an Intellect of 7 or higher. Additionally, please be aware that many GMs rule that Jack of All Trades (which allows you to roll skills despite being trained but does not actually make you trained) limit the maximum DC you can succeed at to DC 15, following guidelines on untrained Expertise skill usage. Total ranks of '''Luck''' are capped to PL.<blockquote>e.g. a PL8 character may have no more than 8 ranks of Luck, across all types of Luck.</blockquote>Individual types of '''Luck''' are capped to PL/2, rounded up. The exception is Luck: Recover, which is capped at 1 rank.<blockquote>e.g. a PL9 character may have no more than 5 ranks of Luck in a single type of Luck</blockquote>'''Luck: Inspire''' is banned. === Powers === The '''Affliction''' power should not have more than a single rank of Extra Condition (that is, imposing 3 or more conditions at once) unless they are Limited Degree 2 (that is, only imposing first-degree conditions regardless of degrees of failure). If an Affliction applies Vulnerable or Defenseless and is Overcome by Dodge or Parry, it is Overcome by the unmodified Defense, without applying Vulnerable or Defenseless. Additionally, note that combining the Defenseless condition with the Disabled or Stunned conditions will be scrutinized heavily. '''Concealment''' that includes normal vision should have an appropriate limitation preventing it from being in use all the time for permanent Concealment bonuses.<blockquote>Passive is typically the most balanced option. Concentration is also a suitable limit. Partial - or even no limit at all, may also be appropriate if the character's attacks and Dodge/Parry are not capped against their Toughness.</blockquote>The Area extra may not be taken on the '''Deflect''' power. '''Flight''' may not be used with Limits to recreate other types of movement (e.g. Flight with Limited: Can Only Travel in Ballistic Arcs as a better version of Leaping, or Flight with Limited: Must remain in contact with a solid or liquid surface as a better version of Speed with Wall-Crawling and Water-Walking).<blockquote>However, note that Flight with a -1pp Quirk can be used to replicate wuxia-style movement, rather than Leaping with Limited Wall Crawling and Limited Water-Walking.</blockquote>The '''Growth''' and '''Shrinking''' powers as 2/r ranked powers are illegal. Instead, size should be set using a Feature, changing size rank by 1 category per PP or up to 3 mass categories per PP.<blockquote>Keep in mind that the default size and weight is Size Rank -2 (3-6 feet) and Mass Rank 2 (100-200 pounds). Characters may be very slightly outside this range for flavor reasons (e.g. being up to 6'6" and 250 pounds) but still count as Size Rank -2 and Mass Rank 2.</blockquote>The '''Healing''' power is illegal if taken at 6 ranks or higher. Additionally, the Area extra may not be taken on Healing. The area extra may not be taken on the '''Luck Control''' power. The '''Morph''' power may not be taken with more than 1 rank of Metamorph. The '''Sure-Footed''' option of the '''Movement''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to overcoming hindrances). The '''Regeneration''' power may only be taken at 1, 2, 5, or 10 ranks. If taken at 10 ranks, it must have a -1/rank Limitation.<blockquote>Please note that Regeneration which doesn't apply to a single common damage descriptor (such as Fire) is a -2pp Quirk, not a -1/rank Limit. To count as a Limit, it must not function against at a very common damage descriptor (such as Slashing/Piercing, Bludgeoning, or Energy), or at least 3 common damage descriptors.</blockquote>The '''Remote Sensing''' power is illegal if usable at the same time as a Perception Ranged attacking power (Affliction, Damage, or Weaken) with descriptors allowing it to be used through the Remote Sensing<blockquote>e.g. a Perception Ranged Damage power representing shooting a gun that always hits would be usable at the same time as a Remote Sensing power representing remotely accessing cameras, as the descriptors wouldn't allow them to be combined. A power representing astral projection and another representing a spiritual attack, however, have descriptors that can be combined, and therefore may not be used at the same time, but would be legal if taken as separate slots in the same Array.</blockquote>An Accurate sense with '''Penetrates Concealment''' must have a Limit preventing it from being activated at all times.<blockquote>Concentration and Distracting are both appropriate Limits for most similar powers.</blockquote>The '''Swimming''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to while Swimming) and consider Skill Mastery: Athletics The '''Variable''' power may never be taken as an Alternate Effect, nor may it have Alternate Effects - essentially, it cannot be part of an Array. Additionally, the '''Variable''' power may not be upgraded to a Free Action if it has 4 or more ranks. === Power Flaws and Extras === The '''Area''' extra cannot be taken as partial ranks on a power with an effect rank above your PL, and it must be at least 2 ranks below the full ranks of the power. Do not use the '''Grab-Based''' flaw. Instead, consider making your power Perception Range with Limited to Close Range and Limited to targets you are grabbing, for +0/rank, to allow yourself to automatically strike a grabbed target with an effect other than Strength Damage. If you want to simultaneously grab a target and strike them with an effect other than damage, use Linked for +0/rank (although note the Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects rules below. The '''Innate''' extra is banned for any power other than Create. The '''Reaction''' extra is illegal on any power with a rank greater than half PL. The '''Triggered''' extra is illegal at a rank greater than half PL (not counting a rank to have a Variable Trigger or Selective trigger). === Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects === All of the above are allowed, but we restrict some elements of them and how they interact to prevent powergaming and anti-climactic combats where one PC effortlessly ends the encounter. * Attacks with Effect Ranks equal to Power Level are allowed two Ranks of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack exceeds Power Level, it is allowed one less Rank of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack is below Power Level, it is allowed one more Rank of Improved Critical. * Attacks with Multiattack and/or a Linked Effect applied are allowed two less Ranks of Improved Critical for each option applied. * If an Attack under these rules would be allowed fewer than zero Ranks of Improved Critical, that Power is not allowed on our server. * Powers with significant Flaws or that don’t meet Power Level caps may get per-case exceptions. * Powers still cannot have more than four Ranks of Improved Critical, as normal. <blockquote>e.g. for a PL10 character, a Damage 10 power may have either Multiattack or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 12 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have Multiattack. A Damage 6 Power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 2 or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 4 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3. e.g. for a PL8 character, a Damage 8 power may have either a Linked Effect or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 10 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have a Linked Effect. A Damage 4 power may have a Linked Effect and Multiattack on both effects, or a Linked Effect and Improved Critical 2, or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 2 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3.</blockquote> == Rules of Fair Play == There are several rules - both mechanical and otherwise - which GMs are asked to keep in mind when running games and players are asked to keep in mind when building. Some of the most important as as follows: '''Mechanics should be backed up by thematics, and vice versa.''' If something is on your character sheet, it should be thematically coherent, able to be explained by your character's backstory and concept. Certain powers, advantages, and skills are particularly effective for any build (e.g. Luck Control, Evasion, or Perception) even if they don't thematically make sense for a character - make sure that you only make purchases which make sense for your character's concept. Part of this is not giving your character ridiculously high skill bonuses unless their concept actually demands it, and using Limited versions of those traits when appropriate (for example, a character with good hearing would likely have Perception Limited to Hearing rather than normal Perception). Similarly, do your best to make sure that aspects of your character are represented in their mechanics as well - often through Abilities and Expertise skills. '''Characters shouldn't be able to do everything on their own.''' This is a team game, and characters who are capable of dealing with any situation and every problem better than anyone else aren't fun to play with. Your character should have both strengths and weaknesses. '''Generalist characters shouldn't outshine specialist characters.''' Again, this is a team game, and everyone deserve a chance to have their character shine in their particular field. Characters with specialized, narrow skill sets and concepts should be able to be the expert in their field and when their concept is relevant - meanwhile, characters with broad skill sets and generalist concepts shine when a specialist isn't present, able to be more adaptable to multiple situations. As part of this concept, '''narrow skills should be more capable than broader skills.''' This is generally accomplished via giving the narrow skill a lower DC than the broader skill - for example, the information that someone with Expertise: Biology might get on a DC 15 check might only be available to someone with Expertise: Science on a DC 20 check. As a general rule, a narrow skill should have DCs 5 lower than the broader skill, although this may vary depending on exactly how much narrower the skill is. '''A Complication is an invitation.''' Adding a complication to a character's sheet is an implicit invitation for the GM to use that complication - similarly, an Uncontrolled power is an invitation for the GM to use that power. Conversely, leaving a complication ''off'' of a character's sheet should tell the GM ''not'' to use it, even if it's one that would be reasonable for the character to have - for example, a character with a secret identity but not a Secret Identity complication shouldn't be threatened with having their identity threatened. '''Be kind and don't break the game.''' There are numerous ways to combine disparate aspects of the system that are unbalanced, such as combining Untapped Potential and Extraordinary Effort, using an Environment power or similar to provide your own Favored Environment, and using Improved Aim then Extra Effort and Power Attack to attack with +5 to hit and +5 to rank in a single round. Please don't do things like this. GMs will keep an eye out for builds that could theoretically do so, and may quiz the player to make sure that they don't plan to do so, or may require changes to the sheet even to things that are not hard-banned. == Guidelines for Unclear Options == The following are guidelines for how to deal with parts of the system with little or insufficient guidance. === Pricing Guidelines === The Feature power can be used to gain circumstance bonuses to certain rolls, but should not do so at greater efficiency than Skill Ranks. General guidelines are as follows:<blockquote>A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill, or a particular use of multiple skills, only in a limited set of circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. Compare to the Attractive advantage to see if the circumstances are limited enough. A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. A Feature that gives a non-circumstantial bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should be a Limited Enhanced Skill, giving 4 skill ranks for that specific use for 1pp, rather than a Feature.</blockquote>Immunity can be used for descriptors outside those explicitly listed in the book. General guidelines to the price of these are as follows:<blockquote> 1PP: descriptors that are primarily flavor, or immunity to individual people's powers. 2PP: descriptors that are particularly rare, or subsets of 5pp immunities (e.g. Immunity to a specific Interaction skill or emotion rather than all Interaction skills or emotions). 5PP: descriptors that are common, but only as used for a single power (e.g. Damage of a specific descriptor, a particular type of Affliction such as entrapment or sensory attacks). 10pp: descriptors that are common, as used for multiple powers. 20pp: extremely common descriptors that subsume multiple 10pp descriptors. Note that Slashing and Piercing count as a single 20pp descriptor.</blockquote> === When to Use Different Options === MnM has a number of ways to build similar powers using different effects. Here are some common points of confusion: ==== Protecting Others: Create, Deflect, Affects Others Immunity? ==== Create should be used when your power can provide shelter from area attacks, or when it can be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical forcefield that blocks all attacks, until shattered by a powerful strike.</blockquote>Deflect should be used when your power can redirect attacks, or when it can be pierced by a sufficiently accurate attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical shield that darts around an area to intercept attacks, but may fail to block a strike that comes to quickly.</blockquote>Affects Others Immunity should be used when your power is unbreakable, but only functions against a limited subset of attacks.<blockquote>e.g. a magical ward against fire, but which doesn't protect against bullets.</blockquote> ==== Extreme Talent: Skills or Powers? ==== A number of forms of extreme talent can be represented as either Skills or as Powers. Parkour is one of the most common examples, possible to build either as simple high Athletics or as a rank of Speed, Leaping, and Wall-Crawling - another common example is heightened senses, possible as either high Perception or as various Sense options. The reason to build with Powers rather than Skills generally comes down to one of two reasons. First is consistency - as most power-built options of this type don't call for rolls, a character with high Athletics will have a chance to fail while climbing a wall in a way that a character with Wall-Crawling doesn't. Second is adding options that the skills alone don't grant - no point at the Perception skill will let you echolocate, but Senses 2: Accurate Hearing will. The reason to build with Skills rather than Powers generally comes down to wanting the other benefits provided by that skill which the power version doesn't give, often due to being more focused - Senses: Extended Vision allows you to see much farther away, but it doesn't let you spot things around you as well as +10 Perception does. Similarly, while a power-built Parkour power may allow you to climb faster than simple Athletics, it doesn't help you escape from Grabs. In the end, choosing between them largely comes down to personal preference. ==== Draining Effects: Affliction or Weaken? ==== Affliction (Impaired->Disabled->Transformed, limited to the specific trait being drained) is a way of representing draining attacks that can sometimes be more appropriate than Weaken. Affliction is best used when the drained trait would return all at once rather than slowly over time. ==== Versatility: Variable or an Array? ==== The Variable power should only be used when it is necessary for a concept. Keep in mind that most concepts who are designed to be versatile are able to accomplish that versatility using Power Stunts. Examples of concepts which may have genuine need for Variable include Power Mimics, versatile Shapeshifters, and focused Inventors. One way to determine if Variable is necessary is to try building the most common sets that Variable would use, then compare the cost of an array including all of those options to the price of a Variable that covers all of those options. As a general guideline, Variable is only cheaper if the array would include at least 2-3 options for each rank of Variable. Another way to see if Variable is necessary is to consider that same list of common sets, and try to come up with scenarios where you might need to use something outside of those prebuilt options. If you have difficulty imagining scenarios not covered by those sets, Variable is likely not necessary. ==== Inventors: the Invention advantage, Devices, or Slow Variable (Devices)? ==== Some characters have the skillset to create impressive works of technology or magical relics as an integral part of their concept. However, there are multiple ways to represent this. Note that these options are not exclusive. The Invention advantage best represents a character creating a new, temporary invention during a storyline to counter a specific threat. As it is relatively cheap - and also difficult to use in a living world setting - it is best taken as a flavor purchase, often on top of the other options. The Removable flaw, which turns a set of powers into a Removable or Easily Removable Device, best represents a specific set of items that are integral to a character's concept. If a character has the same inventions each time they appear, those inventions are most likely Devices. Slow Variable (Devices) gives a character a selection of PP which can be used to buy any Devices, reassigning them during downtime. If a character switches between different devices often, bringing different options to different appearances, those devices most likely come from a Slow Variable power. ==== Ridiculous Weapon Skills: Devices or Powers with a Quirk? ==== There are two ways to build a swordsman with ridiculous weapon skills, such as deflecting bullets. Either his sword is special, or they are. This also applies for characters like Green Arrow, Deadshot, and similar. If the skills are only usable with one particular weapon - due to a spiritual bonding, the weapon's inherent magical properties, a psychological belief, or any other reason - they should be built with a Device. If the skills are usable with any weapon of the appropriate type, they should be built as Powers with a -1 Quirk: Requires a [weapon]. The character will then either have a Device or a piece of Equipment which provides access to that Power. ==== Utility Belts, Guns, and Similar: Devices or Equipment? ==== The Removable Flaw should be used to create a Device whenever one or more of the following is true:<blockquote>The item isn't obtainable by an average wealthy person in the setting (e.g. a magical sword in a setting with magic kept secret from normal society). The item is unbreakable by ordinary means (e.g. a shield made from adamantium). The item uses technology with no theoretical basis under current understanding of physics (e.g. a personal teleporter, even if a rich person in the setting might have access to one). The item can only be used by one person and no one else, under normal circumstances. The item is important enough to the character's concept that taking it from them is a serious hindrance not to their ability to function, but to their ability to fulfill their concept. The item is not a prebuilt piece of Equipment out of the book, and is built with a rank of 7 or more.</blockquote>If none of the above is true, the item may be built as Equipment. ==== Unbreakable Items: Devices or Complications? ==== The Removable Flaw comes with three major drawbacks - that they can be destroyed, that they can be disarmed, and that they may not always be present. The first two drawbacks are mechanical, and the third is narrative. Removable Devices can be destroyed, but not stolen - Easily Removable Devices can be both destroyed and broken. However, you can pay extra to make a Device Indestructible. An Easily Removable Device can be Indestructible, if descriptors justify it. A Removable Device should never be Indestructible - if it would be, instead simply build it as a normal Power or set of Powers, and add a Power Loss Complication. ==== Sidekicks and Summons: the Minion Advantage, the Sidekick advantage, the Summon power, or flavor? ==== Most of the time, side characters of any kind shouldn't be built as Minions, Sidekicks, or Summon. Instead, build them as flavor for other powers.<blockquote>e.g. someone who summons ghosts should, rather than having Summon, have an array of ranged powers with Indirect 4, representing ghosts attacking on their behalf. e.g. someone with a helper who feeds them information through an earpiece should, rather than having a Sidekick, should have an Enhanced Trait power giving them extra skills and Advantages, as well as a Complication representing that that helper can be targeted. e.g. someone with a robotic drone that they control remotely should, rather than having Summon, have their character sheet be built as the drone, with Immortality representing rebuilding the drone, and a Complication representing their actual self.</blockquote>There are some exceptions to this - for example, a character whose concept is that they are two twins working together. Cases like these can generally be modeled by building the characters at a lower PL than the character is legally considered, using the guideline that two characters of PL A are equivalent to one character of PL A+2. For example, two twins built with PL6 offenses and defenses can be submitted as a PL8 character. Speak to a GM to determine if your concept fits this situation. ==== Steeds: Powers or Vehicles? ==== If, conceptually, you are always on your steed, then it should be a Power, using Removable or a Power Loss Complication to represent that it can take damage or be taken from you. Otherwise, it should be a Vehicle. This applies whether your steed is a flying carpet, a motorcycle, or a flying horse. ==== Moving Homes: Vehicles with Rooms or Headquarters with Moveable? ==== Imagine that your moving home is attacked as part of a game: If, in that scene, you pilot it to avoid dangers in the environment and your allies strike back through windows or using weapons built into the home, it is a Vehicle. If your home is invaded by attackers, and you fight them off within your home itself, it is a Headquarters. 59dc6cca0254a707e368ef4d2993a24371bdc6ed 44 34 2024-01-12T04:59:41Z AbyssWatcher 5 /* Advantages */ wikitext text/x-wiki == Requirements for Characters == In simple terms, these are a handful of minimum requirements that all characters must satisfy in order to be approved. === Mechanics === Characters must be between PL8 and PL10, although some concepts using Sidekick or Summon may be allowed to build at lower PLs. All characters must spend all of their starting PP (150 power points, regardless of PL). Characters must meet at least 2/3 of their Defensive PL Caps, and their third must be within 2 ranks of being capped. Additionally, none of their Defenses can be less than half their PL.<blockquote>The three Defensive PL Caps are Toughness/Dodge, Toughness/Parry, and Fortitude/Will e.g. A PL8 character with all Defenses except Dodge at 8, with Dodge being 6, is acceptable. If Parry is also 6, they are failing 2 of their caps, and must revise. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable defenses outside of sheer rank.</blockquote>Characters must have at least one PL-capped attack which can defeat a foe (although not necessarily through incapacitation). Additionally, this attack must have a rank of at least half their PL.<blockquote>This attack can be Damage, or an Affliction that imposes a 3rd degree condition other than Unaware or Asleep. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable attacks outside of sheer rank.</blockquote> === Complications === All characters ''must'' have a complication representing why they act as a hero. If they have no reason to be a hero, they are not a PC. All characters must have at least one complication in addition to their Motivation. === Additional Requirements === Characters may not use anything listed in the '''Banned Build Options''' section. Please pay special attention to the rules around Multiattack and Linked Effects. == Options from the Books == As per the optional rule in Power Profiles, the Luck advantage can be bought for hero point benefits beyond re-rolling a die roll. You may purchase Luck for any use of a hero point (including to fuel fortune advantages such as Beginner's Luck) with the exception of Luck: Inspire - that is, points to fuel the Inspire advantage, not the Inspiration use of a Hero Point, which is still allowed. Constructs can use Extra Effort, suffering the Impaired -> Disabled -> Incapacitated conditions instead of Fatigued -> Exhausted -> Impaired. If a construct PC is hit by an Affects Objects effect, they resist at Power Level. GMs may allow certain non-minion construct NPCs to resist Affects Objects effects at PL as well. == Homebrew Advantages == ==== Avoidance ==== You have a +2 circumstance bonus to skill checks to escape grabs and similar ensnaring effects. A second rank of this advantage increases the circumstance bonus to +5. This bonus only applies to escaping, not to the initial check to avoid the grab or snare. ==== Benefit, Assessment based on Tactics ==== Your ability to read others' combat skill is based in your own knowledge of combat, rather than your ability to read others in general. When you use Assessment, you may do so using your Tactics skill rather than your Insight. ==== Born for the Stage ==== You may make untrained checks with any artistic or performance skill as if you were trained, and gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the active use of that skill. ==== Damaging Escape ==== When you escape from a grab, you get an unarmed attack against the opponent as a reaction. You still have to roll to hit. ==== Domineer ==== Your threats stick with opponents and leave them distracted. When you successfully demoralize an opponent with the Intimidation skill, they remain Impaired for a number of rounds equal to the Degrees of Success on your initial check. With four or more Degrees of Success, your target is Disabled until the end of your next turn, then Impaired for the remaining duration. Additional attempts to demoralize the same opponent replace the remaining duration rather than add to it. ==== Exuding Confidence ==== You may use your Presence score to determine your Will defenses instead of Awareness. ==== Favored Friend ==== You have a particular type of ally you've studied or are especially effective with. It may be a type of creature (aliens, animals, constructs, metahumans, undead, etc.), a profession (soldiers, police officers, artists, etc.) or any other category the GM approves. Especially broad categories like 'humans' or ‘heroes’ are not permitted. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion checks dealing with your Favored Friend. This circumstance bonus is not limited by power level. ==== Intuitive Reflexes ==== You may use your Awareness score to determine your initiative, instead of your Agility. ==== Monkeywrencher ==== If you choose to attack a mechanical or electrical device or piece of equipment, such as a suit of power armor, a rifle, or a similar item, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Damage. With a second rank, your circumstance bonus is +5. As a rule of thumb, this bonus only applies to mechanisms that have moving parts, require electrical power, or are fueled by a chemical reaction. ==== Readied Rituals ==== Some ritualists have mastered the technique of performing an ritual and leaving it “paused” just on the edge of completion, such that it only takes a moment (and a standard action) to finish and activate them, allowing the ritualist to have an effect “readied” for quick use. Readied Ritual is a Benefit advantage (Hero’s Handbook, Chapter 5), with the following requirements and benefits: * To have the Readied Rituals Benefit, you must have the Ritualist advantage and be trained in its associated Ritual Skill. * You can only ready rituals with a cost equal to or less than your associated Ritual Skill bonus. More difficult rituals are too hard to hold “at the ready” without completing them. * You may have only one ritual readied at a time per rank of this advantage. * Readying a ritual takes the same amount of time as performing it, and you can fast-cast a ritual to ready it, if you wish. ==== Skill Knack ==== A skill knack allows a character to ignore one type of circumstance penalty for skill use. Existing examples include Improvised Tools (which removes the circumstance penalty for not having tools) or Animal Empathy (which removes the circumstance penalty on using interaction skills with animals). Other possibilities include removing circumstance penalties for Acrobatics or Athletics (moving at normal speeds, not vulnerable while in use, etc.), penalties for difficult disguises with Deception, and so forth. This advantage may not be taken to ignore the -5 penalty for Feinting, Demoralizing, or Tricking as a move action. ==== Strongarm ==== You can apply your Strength modifier rather than your Presence modifier to Intimidation checks. ==== Unnerving Assault ==== When you have a critical success on a noticeable attack or resistance check, you may make an immediate check to demoralize. ==== Withstand Damage ==== When using the Defend action, you can reduce active defenses by up to 2 to increase your Toughness by the same amount. A second rank allows you to take a reduction and increase of up to 5. == Banned Build Options == === Advantages === '''Fast Grab''' is banned. To replicate the same effect, use Linked Move Object (Reduced Range, Limited to Grabs). Note that if you remove the Limited to Grabs, the same effect power also works as a knockback effect. '''Holding Back''' is banned, with no exceptions. To replicate a similar effect, consider a character with an alt form or metamorph that raises them from PL8 to PL10, with a limit requiring them to spend hero points to shift PLs. '''Jack of All Trades''' is illegal if the character has an Intellect of 7 or higher. Additionally, please be aware that many GMs rule that Jack of All Trades (which allows you to roll skills despite being trained but does not actually make you trained) limit the maximum DC you can succeed at to DC 15, following guidelines on untrained Expertise skill usage. Total ranks of '''Luck''' are capped to PL.<blockquote>e.g. a PL8 character may have no more than 8 ranks of Luck, across all types of Luck.</blockquote>Individual types of '''Luck''' are capped to PL/2, rounded up. The exception is Luck: Recover, which is capped at 1 rank.<blockquote>e.g. a PL9 character may have no more than 5 ranks of Luck in a single type of Luck</blockquote>'''Luck: Inspire''' (that is, points of Luck used to fuel to Inspire advantage) is banned. === Powers === The '''Affliction''' power should not have more than a single rank of Extra Condition (that is, imposing 3 or more conditions at once) unless they are Limited Degree 2 (that is, only imposing first-degree conditions regardless of degrees of failure). If an Affliction applies Vulnerable or Defenseless and is Overcome by Dodge or Parry, it is Overcome by the unmodified Defense, without applying Vulnerable or Defenseless. Additionally, note that combining the Defenseless condition with the Disabled or Stunned conditions will be scrutinized heavily. '''Concealment''' that includes normal vision should have an appropriate limitation preventing it from being in use all the time for permanent Concealment bonuses.<blockquote>Passive is typically the most balanced option. Concentration is also a suitable limit. Partial - or even no limit at all, may also be appropriate if the character's attacks and Dodge/Parry are not capped against their Toughness.</blockquote>The Area extra may not be taken on the '''Deflect''' power. '''Flight''' may not be used with Limits to recreate other types of movement (e.g. Flight with Limited: Can Only Travel in Ballistic Arcs as a better version of Leaping, or Flight with Limited: Must remain in contact with a solid or liquid surface as a better version of Speed with Wall-Crawling and Water-Walking).<blockquote>However, note that Flight with a -1pp Quirk can be used to replicate wuxia-style movement, rather than Leaping with Limited Wall Crawling and Limited Water-Walking.</blockquote>The '''Growth''' and '''Shrinking''' powers as 2/r ranked powers are illegal. Instead, size should be set using a Feature, changing size rank by 1 category per PP or up to 3 mass categories per PP.<blockquote>Keep in mind that the default size and weight is Size Rank -2 (3-6 feet) and Mass Rank 2 (100-200 pounds). Characters may be very slightly outside this range for flavor reasons (e.g. being up to 6'6" and 250 pounds) but still count as Size Rank -2 and Mass Rank 2.</blockquote>The '''Healing''' power is illegal if taken at 6 ranks or higher. Additionally, the Area extra may not be taken on Healing. The area extra may not be taken on the '''Luck Control''' power. The '''Morph''' power may not be taken with more than 1 rank of Metamorph. The '''Sure-Footed''' option of the '''Movement''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to overcoming hindrances). The '''Regeneration''' power may only be taken at 1, 2, 5, or 10 ranks. If taken at 10 ranks, it must have a -1/rank Limitation.<blockquote>Please note that Regeneration which doesn't apply to a single common damage descriptor (such as Fire) is a -2pp Quirk, not a -1/rank Limit. To count as a Limit, it must not function against at a very common damage descriptor (such as Slashing/Piercing, Bludgeoning, or Energy), or at least 3 common damage descriptors.</blockquote>The '''Remote Sensing''' power is illegal if usable at the same time as a Perception Ranged attacking power (Affliction, Damage, or Weaken) with descriptors allowing it to be used through the Remote Sensing<blockquote>e.g. a Perception Ranged Damage power representing shooting a gun that always hits would be usable at the same time as a Remote Sensing power representing remotely accessing cameras, as the descriptors wouldn't allow them to be combined. A power representing astral projection and another representing a spiritual attack, however, have descriptors that can be combined, and therefore may not be used at the same time, but would be legal if taken as separate slots in the same Array.</blockquote>An Accurate sense with '''Penetrates Concealment''' must have a Limit preventing it from being activated at all times.<blockquote>Concentration and Distracting are both appropriate Limits for most similar powers.</blockquote>The '''Swimming''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to while Swimming) and consider Skill Mastery: Athletics The '''Variable''' power may never be taken as an Alternate Effect, nor may it have Alternate Effects - essentially, it cannot be part of an Array. Additionally, the '''Variable''' power may not be upgraded to a Free Action if it has 4 or more ranks. === Power Flaws and Extras === The '''Area''' extra cannot be taken as partial ranks on a power with an effect rank above your PL, and it must be at least 2 ranks below the full ranks of the power. Do not use the '''Grab-Based''' flaw. Instead, consider making your power Perception Range with Limited to Close Range and Limited to targets you are grabbing, for +0/rank, to allow yourself to automatically strike a grabbed target with an effect other than Strength Damage. If you want to simultaneously grab a target and strike them with an effect other than damage, use Linked for +0/rank (although note the Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects rules below. The '''Innate''' extra is banned for any power other than Create. The '''Reaction''' extra is illegal on any power with a rank greater than half PL. The '''Triggered''' extra is illegal at a rank greater than half PL (not counting a rank to have a Variable Trigger or Selective trigger). === Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects === All of the above are allowed, but we restrict some elements of them and how they interact to prevent powergaming and anti-climactic combats where one PC effortlessly ends the encounter. * Attacks with Effect Ranks equal to Power Level are allowed two Ranks of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack exceeds Power Level, it is allowed one less Rank of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack is below Power Level, it is allowed one more Rank of Improved Critical. * Attacks with Multiattack and/or a Linked Effect applied are allowed two less Ranks of Improved Critical for each option applied. * If an Attack under these rules would be allowed fewer than zero Ranks of Improved Critical, that Power is not allowed on our server. * Powers with significant Flaws or that don’t meet Power Level caps may get per-case exceptions. * Powers still cannot have more than four Ranks of Improved Critical, as normal. <blockquote>e.g. for a PL10 character, a Damage 10 power may have either Multiattack or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 12 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have Multiattack. A Damage 6 Power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 2 or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 4 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3. e.g. for a PL8 character, a Damage 8 power may have either a Linked Effect or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 10 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have a Linked Effect. A Damage 4 power may have a Linked Effect and Multiattack on both effects, or a Linked Effect and Improved Critical 2, or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 2 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3.</blockquote> == Rules of Fair Play == There are several rules - both mechanical and otherwise - which GMs are asked to keep in mind when running games and players are asked to keep in mind when building. Some of the most important as as follows: '''Mechanics should be backed up by thematics, and vice versa.''' If something is on your character sheet, it should be thematically coherent, able to be explained by your character's backstory and concept. Certain powers, advantages, and skills are particularly effective for any build (e.g. Luck Control, Evasion, or Perception) even if they don't thematically make sense for a character - make sure that you only make purchases which make sense for your character's concept. Part of this is not giving your character ridiculously high skill bonuses unless their concept actually demands it, and using Limited versions of those traits when appropriate (for example, a character with good hearing would likely have Perception Limited to Hearing rather than normal Perception). Similarly, do your best to make sure that aspects of your character are represented in their mechanics as well - often through Abilities and Expertise skills. '''Characters shouldn't be able to do everything on their own.''' This is a team game, and characters who are capable of dealing with any situation and every problem better than anyone else aren't fun to play with. Your character should have both strengths and weaknesses. '''Generalist characters shouldn't outshine specialist characters.''' Again, this is a team game, and everyone deserve a chance to have their character shine in their particular field. Characters with specialized, narrow skill sets and concepts should be able to be the expert in their field and when their concept is relevant - meanwhile, characters with broad skill sets and generalist concepts shine when a specialist isn't present, able to be more adaptable to multiple situations. As part of this concept, '''narrow skills should be more capable than broader skills.''' This is generally accomplished via giving the narrow skill a lower DC than the broader skill - for example, the information that someone with Expertise: Biology might get on a DC 15 check might only be available to someone with Expertise: Science on a DC 20 check. As a general rule, a narrow skill should have DCs 5 lower than the broader skill, although this may vary depending on exactly how much narrower the skill is. '''A Complication is an invitation.''' Adding a complication to a character's sheet is an implicit invitation for the GM to use that complication - similarly, an Uncontrolled power is an invitation for the GM to use that power. Conversely, leaving a complication ''off'' of a character's sheet should tell the GM ''not'' to use it, even if it's one that would be reasonable for the character to have - for example, a character with a secret identity but not a Secret Identity complication shouldn't be threatened with having their identity threatened. '''Be kind and don't break the game.''' There are numerous ways to combine disparate aspects of the system that are unbalanced, such as combining Untapped Potential and Extraordinary Effort, using an Environment power or similar to provide your own Favored Environment, and using Improved Aim then Extra Effort and Power Attack to attack with +5 to hit and +5 to rank in a single round. Please don't do things like this. GMs will keep an eye out for builds that could theoretically do so, and may quiz the player to make sure that they don't plan to do so, or may require changes to the sheet even to things that are not hard-banned. == Guidelines for Unclear Options == The following are guidelines for how to deal with parts of the system with little or insufficient guidance. === Pricing Guidelines === The Feature power can be used to gain circumstance bonuses to certain rolls, but should not do so at greater efficiency than Skill Ranks. General guidelines are as follows:<blockquote>A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill, or a particular use of multiple skills, only in a limited set of circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. Compare to the Attractive advantage to see if the circumstances are limited enough. A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. A Feature that gives a non-circumstantial bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should be a Limited Enhanced Skill, giving 4 skill ranks for that specific use for 1pp, rather than a Feature.</blockquote>Immunity can be used for descriptors outside those explicitly listed in the book. General guidelines to the price of these are as follows:<blockquote> 1PP: descriptors that are primarily flavor, or immunity to individual people's powers. 2PP: descriptors that are particularly rare, or subsets of 5pp immunities (e.g. Immunity to a specific Interaction skill or emotion rather than all Interaction skills or emotions). 5PP: descriptors that are common, but only as used for a single power (e.g. Damage of a specific descriptor, a particular type of Affliction such as entrapment or sensory attacks). 10pp: descriptors that are common, as used for multiple powers. 20pp: extremely common descriptors that subsume multiple 10pp descriptors. Note that Slashing and Piercing count as a single 20pp descriptor.</blockquote> === When to Use Different Options === MnM has a number of ways to build similar powers using different effects. Here are some common points of confusion: ==== Protecting Others: Create, Deflect, Affects Others Immunity? ==== Create should be used when your power can provide shelter from area attacks, or when it can be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical forcefield that blocks all attacks, until shattered by a powerful strike.</blockquote>Deflect should be used when your power can redirect attacks, or when it can be pierced by a sufficiently accurate attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical shield that darts around an area to intercept attacks, but may fail to block a strike that comes to quickly.</blockquote>Affects Others Immunity should be used when your power is unbreakable, but only functions against a limited subset of attacks.<blockquote>e.g. a magical ward against fire, but which doesn't protect against bullets.</blockquote> ==== Extreme Talent: Skills or Powers? ==== A number of forms of extreme talent can be represented as either Skills or as Powers. Parkour is one of the most common examples, possible to build either as simple high Athletics or as a rank of Speed, Leaping, and Wall-Crawling - another common example is heightened senses, possible as either high Perception or as various Sense options. The reason to build with Powers rather than Skills generally comes down to one of two reasons. First is consistency - as most power-built options of this type don't call for rolls, a character with high Athletics will have a chance to fail while climbing a wall in a way that a character with Wall-Crawling doesn't. Second is adding options that the skills alone don't grant - no point at the Perception skill will let you echolocate, but Senses 2: Accurate Hearing will. The reason to build with Skills rather than Powers generally comes down to wanting the other benefits provided by that skill which the power version doesn't give, often due to being more focused - Senses: Extended Vision allows you to see much farther away, but it doesn't let you spot things around you as well as +10 Perception does. Similarly, while a power-built Parkour power may allow you to climb faster than simple Athletics, it doesn't help you escape from Grabs. In the end, choosing between them largely comes down to personal preference. ==== Draining Effects: Affliction or Weaken? ==== Affliction (Impaired->Disabled->Transformed, limited to the specific trait being drained) is a way of representing draining attacks that can sometimes be more appropriate than Weaken. Affliction is best used when the drained trait would return all at once rather than slowly over time. ==== Versatility: Variable or an Array? ==== The Variable power should only be used when it is necessary for a concept. Keep in mind that most concepts who are designed to be versatile are able to accomplish that versatility using Power Stunts. Examples of concepts which may have genuine need for Variable include Power Mimics, versatile Shapeshifters, and focused Inventors. One way to determine if Variable is necessary is to try building the most common sets that Variable would use, then compare the cost of an array including all of those options to the price of a Variable that covers all of those options. As a general guideline, Variable is only cheaper if the array would include at least 2-3 options for each rank of Variable. Another way to see if Variable is necessary is to consider that same list of common sets, and try to come up with scenarios where you might need to use something outside of those prebuilt options. If you have difficulty imagining scenarios not covered by those sets, Variable is likely not necessary. ==== Inventors: the Invention advantage, Devices, or Slow Variable (Devices)? ==== Some characters have the skillset to create impressive works of technology or magical relics as an integral part of their concept. However, there are multiple ways to represent this. Note that these options are not exclusive. The Invention advantage best represents a character creating a new, temporary invention during a storyline to counter a specific threat. As it is relatively cheap - and also difficult to use in a living world setting - it is best taken as a flavor purchase, often on top of the other options. The Removable flaw, which turns a set of powers into a Removable or Easily Removable Device, best represents a specific set of items that are integral to a character's concept. If a character has the same inventions each time they appear, those inventions are most likely Devices. Slow Variable (Devices) gives a character a selection of PP which can be used to buy any Devices, reassigning them during downtime. If a character switches between different devices often, bringing different options to different appearances, those devices most likely come from a Slow Variable power. ==== Ridiculous Weapon Skills: Devices or Powers with a Quirk? ==== There are two ways to build a swordsman with ridiculous weapon skills, such as deflecting bullets. Either his sword is special, or they are. This also applies for characters like Green Arrow, Deadshot, and similar. If the skills are only usable with one particular weapon - due to a spiritual bonding, the weapon's inherent magical properties, a psychological belief, or any other reason - they should be built with a Device. If the skills are usable with any weapon of the appropriate type, they should be built as Powers with a -1 Quirk: Requires a [weapon]. The character will then either have a Device or a piece of Equipment which provides access to that Power. ==== Utility Belts, Guns, and Similar: Devices or Equipment? ==== The Removable Flaw should be used to create a Device whenever one or more of the following is true:<blockquote>The item isn't obtainable by an average wealthy person in the setting (e.g. a magical sword in a setting with magic kept secret from normal society). The item is unbreakable by ordinary means (e.g. a shield made from adamantium). The item uses technology with no theoretical basis under current understanding of physics (e.g. a personal teleporter, even if a rich person in the setting might have access to one). The item can only be used by one person and no one else, under normal circumstances. The item is important enough to the character's concept that taking it from them is a serious hindrance not to their ability to function, but to their ability to fulfill their concept. The item is not a prebuilt piece of Equipment out of the book, and is built with a rank of 7 or more.</blockquote>If none of the above is true, the item may be built as Equipment. ==== Unbreakable Items: Devices or Complications? ==== The Removable Flaw comes with three major drawbacks - that they can be destroyed, that they can be disarmed, and that they may not always be present. The first two drawbacks are mechanical, and the third is narrative. Removable Devices can be destroyed, but not stolen - Easily Removable Devices can be both destroyed and broken. However, you can pay extra to make a Device Indestructible. An Easily Removable Device can be Indestructible, if descriptors justify it. A Removable Device should never be Indestructible - if it would be, instead simply build it as a normal Power or set of Powers, and add a Power Loss Complication. ==== Sidekicks and Summons: the Minion Advantage, the Sidekick advantage, the Summon power, or flavor? ==== Most of the time, side characters of any kind shouldn't be built as Minions, Sidekicks, or Summon. Instead, build them as flavor for other powers.<blockquote>e.g. someone who summons ghosts should, rather than having Summon, have an array of ranged powers with Indirect 4, representing ghosts attacking on their behalf. e.g. someone with a helper who feeds them information through an earpiece should, rather than having a Sidekick, should have an Enhanced Trait power giving them extra skills and Advantages, as well as a Complication representing that that helper can be targeted. e.g. someone with a robotic drone that they control remotely should, rather than having Summon, have their character sheet be built as the drone, with Immortality representing rebuilding the drone, and a Complication representing their actual self.</blockquote>There are some exceptions to this - for example, a character whose concept is that they are two twins working together. Cases like these can generally be modeled by building the characters at a lower PL than the character is legally considered, using the guideline that two characters of PL A are equivalent to one character of PL A+2. For example, two twins built with PL6 offenses and defenses can be submitted as a PL8 character. Speak to a GM to determine if your concept fits this situation. ==== Steeds: Powers or Vehicles? ==== If, conceptually, you are always on your steed, then it should be a Power, using Removable or a Power Loss Complication to represent that it can take damage or be taken from you. Otherwise, it should be a Vehicle. This applies whether your steed is a flying carpet, a motorcycle, or a flying horse. ==== Moving Homes: Vehicles with Rooms or Headquarters with Moveable? ==== Imagine that your moving home is attacked as part of a game: If, in that scene, you pilot it to avoid dangers in the environment and your allies strike back through windows or using weapons built into the home, it is a Vehicle. If your home is invaded by attackers, and you fight them off within your home itself, it is a Headquarters. 3786f587c30b680e74be68aa23253bc56b3864a9 46 44 2024-01-12T23:37:24Z AbyssWatcher 5 /* Banned Build Options */ wikitext text/x-wiki == Requirements for Characters == In simple terms, these are a handful of minimum requirements that all characters must satisfy in order to be approved. === Mechanics === Characters must be between PL8 and PL10, although some concepts using Sidekick or Summon may be allowed to build at lower PLs. All characters must spend all of their starting PP (150 power points, regardless of PL). Characters must meet at least 2/3 of their Defensive PL Caps, and their third must be within 2 ranks of being capped. Additionally, none of their Defenses can be less than half their PL.<blockquote>The three Defensive PL Caps are Toughness/Dodge, Toughness/Parry, and Fortitude/Will e.g. A PL8 character with all Defenses except Dodge at 8, with Dodge being 6, is acceptable. If Parry is also 6, they are failing 2 of their caps, and must revise. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable defenses outside of sheer rank.</blockquote>Characters must have at least one PL-capped attack which can defeat a foe (although not necessarily through incapacitation). Additionally, this attack must have a rank of at least half their PL.<blockquote>This attack can be Damage, or an Affliction that imposes a 3rd degree condition other than Unaware or Asleep. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable attacks outside of sheer rank.</blockquote> === Complications === All characters ''must'' have a complication representing why they act as a hero. If they have no reason to be a hero, they are not a PC. All characters must have at least one complication in addition to their Motivation. === Additional Requirements === Characters may not use anything listed in the '''Banned Build Options''' section. Please pay special attention to the rules around Multiattack and Linked Effects. == Options from the Books == As per the optional rule in Power Profiles, the Luck advantage can be bought for hero point benefits beyond re-rolling a die roll. You may purchase Luck for any use of a hero point (including to fuel fortune advantages such as Beginner's Luck) with the exception of Luck: Inspire - that is, points to fuel the Inspire advantage, not the Inspiration use of a Hero Point, which is still allowed. Constructs can use Extra Effort, suffering the Impaired -> Disabled -> Incapacitated conditions instead of Fatigued -> Exhausted -> Impaired. If a construct PC is hit by an Affects Objects effect, they resist at Power Level. GMs may allow certain non-minion construct NPCs to resist Affects Objects effects at PL as well. == Homebrew Advantages == ==== Avoidance ==== You have a +2 circumstance bonus to skill checks to escape grabs and similar ensnaring effects. A second rank of this advantage increases the circumstance bonus to +5. This bonus only applies to escaping, not to the initial check to avoid the grab or snare. ==== Benefit, Assessment based on Tactics ==== Your ability to read others' combat skill is based in your own knowledge of combat, rather than your ability to read others in general. When you use Assessment, you may do so using your Tactics skill rather than your Insight. ==== Born for the Stage ==== You may make untrained checks with any artistic or performance skill as if you were trained, and gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the active use of that skill. ==== Damaging Escape ==== When you escape from a grab, you get an unarmed attack against the opponent as a reaction. You still have to roll to hit. ==== Domineer ==== Your threats stick with opponents and leave them distracted. When you successfully demoralize an opponent with the Intimidation skill, they remain Impaired for a number of rounds equal to the Degrees of Success on your initial check. With four or more Degrees of Success, your target is Disabled until the end of your next turn, then Impaired for the remaining duration. Additional attempts to demoralize the same opponent replace the remaining duration rather than add to it. ==== Exuding Confidence ==== You may use your Presence score to determine your Will defenses instead of Awareness. ==== Favored Friend ==== You have a particular type of ally you've studied or are especially effective with. It may be a type of creature (aliens, animals, constructs, metahumans, undead, etc.), a profession (soldiers, police officers, artists, etc.) or any other category the GM approves. Especially broad categories like 'humans' or ‘heroes’ are not permitted. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion checks dealing with your Favored Friend. This circumstance bonus is not limited by power level. ==== Intuitive Reflexes ==== You may use your Awareness score to determine your initiative, instead of your Agility. ==== Monkeywrencher ==== If you choose to attack a mechanical or electrical device or piece of equipment, such as a suit of power armor, a rifle, or a similar item, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Damage. With a second rank, your circumstance bonus is +5. As a rule of thumb, this bonus only applies to mechanisms that have moving parts, require electrical power, or are fueled by a chemical reaction. ==== Readied Rituals ==== Some ritualists have mastered the technique of performing an ritual and leaving it “paused” just on the edge of completion, such that it only takes a moment (and a standard action) to finish and activate them, allowing the ritualist to have an effect “readied” for quick use. Readied Ritual is a Benefit advantage (Hero’s Handbook, Chapter 5), with the following requirements and benefits: * To have the Readied Rituals Benefit, you must have the Ritualist advantage and be trained in its associated Ritual Skill. * You can only ready rituals with a cost equal to or less than your associated Ritual Skill bonus. More difficult rituals are too hard to hold “at the ready” without completing them. * You may have only one ritual readied at a time per rank of this advantage. * Readying a ritual takes the same amount of time as performing it, and you can fast-cast a ritual to ready it, if you wish. ==== Skill Knack ==== A skill knack allows a character to ignore one type of circumstance penalty for skill use. Existing examples include Improvised Tools (which removes the circumstance penalty for not having tools) or Animal Empathy (which removes the circumstance penalty on using interaction skills with animals). Other possibilities include removing circumstance penalties for Acrobatics or Athletics (moving at normal speeds, not vulnerable while in use, etc.), penalties for difficult disguises with Deception, and so forth. This advantage may not be taken to ignore the -5 penalty for Feinting, Demoralizing, or Tricking as a move action. ==== Strongarm ==== You can apply your Strength modifier rather than your Presence modifier to Intimidation checks. ==== Unnerving Assault ==== When you have a critical success on a noticeable attack or resistance check, you may make an immediate check to demoralize. ==== Withstand Damage ==== When using the Defend action, you can reduce active defenses by up to 2 to increase your Toughness by the same amount. A second rank allows you to take a reduction and increase of up to 5. == Banned Build Options == === Advantages === '''Fast Grab''' is banned. To replicate the same effect, use Linked Move Object (Reduced Range, Limited to Grabs). Note that if you remove the Limited to Grabs, the same effect power also works as a knockback effect. '''Holding Back''' is banned, with no exceptions. To replicate a similar effect, consider a character with an alt form or metamorph that raises them from PL8 to PL10, with a limit requiring them to spend hero points to shift PLs. '''Eidetic Memory''' is illegal if the character has an Intellect of 7 or higher. '''Jack of All Trades''' is illegal if the character has an Intellect of 7 or higher. Additionally, please be aware that many GMs rule that Jack of All Trades (which allows you to roll skills despite being trained but does not actually make you trained) limit the maximum DC you can succeed at to DC 15, following guidelines on untrained Expertise skill usage. Total ranks of '''Luck''' are capped to PL.<blockquote>e.g. a PL8 character may have no more than 8 ranks of Luck, across all types of Luck.</blockquote>Individual types of '''Luck''' are capped to PL/2, rounded up. The exception is Luck: Recover, which is capped at 1 rank.<blockquote>e.g. a PL9 character may have no more than 5 ranks of Luck in a single type of Luck</blockquote>'''Luck: Inspire''' (that is, points of Luck used to fuel to Inspire advantage) is banned. === Powers === The '''Affliction''' power should not have more than a single rank of Extra Condition (that is, imposing 3 or more conditions at once) unless they are Limited Degree 2 (that is, only imposing first-degree conditions regardless of degrees of failure). If an Affliction applies Vulnerable or Defenseless and is Overcome by Dodge or Parry, it is Overcome by the unmodified Defense, without applying Vulnerable or Defenseless. Additionally, note that combining the Defenseless condition with the Disabled or Stunned conditions will be scrutinized heavily. '''Concealment''' that includes normal vision should have an appropriate limitation preventing it from being in use all the time for permanent Concealment bonuses.<blockquote>Passive is typically the most balanced option. Concentration is also a suitable limit. Partial - or even no limit at all, may also be appropriate if the character's attacks and Dodge/Parry are not capped against their Toughness.</blockquote>The Area extra may not be taken on the '''Deflect''' power. '''Flight''' may not be used with Limits to recreate other types of movement (e.g. Flight with Limited: Can Only Travel in Ballistic Arcs as a better version of Leaping, or Flight with Limited: Must remain in contact with a solid or liquid surface as a better version of Speed with Wall-Crawling and Water-Walking).<blockquote>However, note that Flight with a -1pp Quirk can be used to replicate wuxia-style movement, rather than Leaping with Limited Wall Crawling and Limited Water-Walking.</blockquote>The '''Growth''' and '''Shrinking''' powers as 2/r ranked powers are illegal. Instead, size should be set using a Feature, changing size rank by 1 category per PP or up to 3 mass categories per PP.<blockquote>Keep in mind that the default size and weight is Size Rank -2 (3-6 feet) and Mass Rank 2 (100-200 pounds). Characters may be very slightly outside this range for flavor reasons (e.g. being up to 6'6" and 250 pounds) but still count as Size Rank -2 and Mass Rank 2.</blockquote>The '''Healing''' power is illegal if taken at 6 ranks or higher. Additionally, the Area extra may not be taken on Healing. The area extra may not be taken on the '''Luck Control''' power. The '''Morph''' power may not be taken with more than 1 rank of Metamorph. The '''Sure-Footed''' option of the '''Movement''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to overcoming hindrances). The '''Regeneration''' power may only be taken at 1, 2, 5, or 10 ranks. If taken at 10 ranks, it must have a -1/rank Limitation.<blockquote>Please note that Regeneration which doesn't apply to a single common damage descriptor (such as Fire) is a -2pp Quirk, not a -1/rank Limit. To count as a Limit, it must not function against at a very common damage descriptor (such as Slashing/Piercing, Bludgeoning, or Energy), or at least 3 common damage descriptors.</blockquote>The '''Remote Sensing''' power is illegal if usable at the same time as a Perception Ranged attacking power (Affliction, Damage, or Weaken) with descriptors allowing it to be used through the Remote Sensing<blockquote>e.g. a Perception Ranged Damage power representing shooting a gun that always hits would be usable at the same time as a Remote Sensing power representing remotely accessing cameras, as the descriptors wouldn't allow them to be combined. A power representing astral projection and another representing a spiritual attack, however, have descriptors that can be combined, and therefore may not be used at the same time, but would be legal if taken as separate slots in the same Array.</blockquote>An Accurate sense with '''Penetrates Concealment''' must have a Limit preventing it from being activated at all times.<blockquote>Concentration and Distracting are both appropriate Limits for most similar powers.</blockquote>The '''Swimming''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to while Swimming) and consider Skill Mastery: Athletics The '''Variable''' power may never be taken as an Alternate Effect, nor may it have Alternate Effects - essentially, it cannot be part of an Array. Additionally, the '''Variable''' power may not be upgraded to a Free Action if it has 4 or more ranks. === Power Flaws and Extras === The '''Area''' extra cannot be taken as partial ranks on a power with an effect rank above your PL, and it must be at least 2 ranks below the full ranks of the power. Do not use the '''Grab-Based''' flaw. Instead, consider making your power Perception Range with Limited to Close Range and Limited to targets you are grabbing, for +0/rank, to allow yourself to automatically strike a grabbed target with an effect other than Strength Damage. If you want to simultaneously grab a target and strike them with an effect other than damage, use Linked for +0/rank (although note the Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects rules below. The '''Innate''' extra is banned for any power other than Create. The '''Reaction''' extra is illegal on any power with a rank greater than half PL. The '''Triggered''' extra is illegal at a rank greater than half PL (not counting a rank to have a Variable Trigger or Selective trigger). === Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects === All of the above are allowed, but we restrict some elements of them and how they interact to prevent powergaming and anti-climactic combats where one PC effortlessly ends the encounter. * Attacks with Effect Ranks equal to Power Level are allowed two Ranks of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack exceeds Power Level, it is allowed one less Rank of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack is below Power Level, it is allowed one more Rank of Improved Critical. * Attacks with Multiattack and/or a Linked Effect applied are allowed two less Ranks of Improved Critical for each option applied. * If an Attack under these rules would be allowed fewer than zero Ranks of Improved Critical, that Power is not allowed on our server. * Powers with significant Flaws or that don’t meet Power Level caps may get per-case exceptions. * Powers still cannot have more than four Ranks of Improved Critical, as normal. <blockquote>e.g. for a PL10 character, a Damage 10 power may have either Multiattack or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 12 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have Multiattack. A Damage 6 Power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 2 or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 4 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3. e.g. for a PL8 character, a Damage 8 power may have either a Linked Effect or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 10 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have a Linked Effect. A Damage 4 power may have a Linked Effect and Multiattack on both effects, or a Linked Effect and Improved Critical 2, or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 2 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3.</blockquote> == Rules of Fair Play == There are several rules - both mechanical and otherwise - which GMs are asked to keep in mind when running games and players are asked to keep in mind when building. Some of the most important as as follows: '''Mechanics should be backed up by thematics, and vice versa.''' If something is on your character sheet, it should be thematically coherent, able to be explained by your character's backstory and concept. Certain powers, advantages, and skills are particularly effective for any build (e.g. Luck Control, Evasion, or Perception) even if they don't thematically make sense for a character - make sure that you only make purchases which make sense for your character's concept. Part of this is not giving your character ridiculously high skill bonuses unless their concept actually demands it, and using Limited versions of those traits when appropriate (for example, a character with good hearing would likely have Perception Limited to Hearing rather than normal Perception). Similarly, do your best to make sure that aspects of your character are represented in their mechanics as well - often through Abilities and Expertise skills. '''Characters shouldn't be able to do everything on their own.''' This is a team game, and characters who are capable of dealing with any situation and every problem better than anyone else aren't fun to play with. Your character should have both strengths and weaknesses. '''Generalist characters shouldn't outshine specialist characters.''' Again, this is a team game, and everyone deserve a chance to have their character shine in their particular field. Characters with specialized, narrow skill sets and concepts should be able to be the expert in their field and when their concept is relevant - meanwhile, characters with broad skill sets and generalist concepts shine when a specialist isn't present, able to be more adaptable to multiple situations. As part of this concept, '''narrow skills should be more capable than broader skills.''' This is generally accomplished via giving the narrow skill a lower DC than the broader skill - for example, the information that someone with Expertise: Biology might get on a DC 15 check might only be available to someone with Expertise: Science on a DC 20 check. As a general rule, a narrow skill should have DCs 5 lower than the broader skill, although this may vary depending on exactly how much narrower the skill is. '''A Complication is an invitation.''' Adding a complication to a character's sheet is an implicit invitation for the GM to use that complication - similarly, an Uncontrolled power is an invitation for the GM to use that power. Conversely, leaving a complication ''off'' of a character's sheet should tell the GM ''not'' to use it, even if it's one that would be reasonable for the character to have - for example, a character with a secret identity but not a Secret Identity complication shouldn't be threatened with having their identity threatened. '''Be kind and don't break the game.''' There are numerous ways to combine disparate aspects of the system that are unbalanced, such as combining Untapped Potential and Extraordinary Effort, using an Environment power or similar to provide your own Favored Environment, and using Improved Aim then Extra Effort and Power Attack to attack with +5 to hit and +5 to rank in a single round. Please don't do things like this. GMs will keep an eye out for builds that could theoretically do so, and may quiz the player to make sure that they don't plan to do so, or may require changes to the sheet even to things that are not hard-banned. == Guidelines for Unclear Options == The following are guidelines for how to deal with parts of the system with little or insufficient guidance. === Pricing Guidelines === The Feature power can be used to gain circumstance bonuses to certain rolls, but should not do so at greater efficiency than Skill Ranks. General guidelines are as follows:<blockquote>A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill, or a particular use of multiple skills, only in a limited set of circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. Compare to the Attractive advantage to see if the circumstances are limited enough. A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. A Feature that gives a non-circumstantial bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should be a Limited Enhanced Skill, giving 4 skill ranks for that specific use for 1pp, rather than a Feature.</blockquote>Immunity can be used for descriptors outside those explicitly listed in the book. General guidelines to the price of these are as follows:<blockquote> 1PP: descriptors that are primarily flavor, or immunity to individual people's powers. 2PP: descriptors that are particularly rare, or subsets of 5pp immunities (e.g. Immunity to a specific Interaction skill or emotion rather than all Interaction skills or emotions). 5PP: descriptors that are common, but only as used for a single power (e.g. Damage of a specific descriptor, a particular type of Affliction such as entrapment or sensory attacks). 10pp: descriptors that are common, as used for multiple powers. 20pp: extremely common descriptors that subsume multiple 10pp descriptors. Note that Slashing and Piercing count as a single 20pp descriptor.</blockquote> === When to Use Different Options === MnM has a number of ways to build similar powers using different effects. Here are some common points of confusion: ==== Protecting Others: Create, Deflect, Affects Others Immunity? ==== Create should be used when your power can provide shelter from area attacks, or when it can be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical forcefield that blocks all attacks, until shattered by a powerful strike.</blockquote>Deflect should be used when your power can redirect attacks, or when it can be pierced by a sufficiently accurate attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical shield that darts around an area to intercept attacks, but may fail to block a strike that comes to quickly.</blockquote>Affects Others Immunity should be used when your power is unbreakable, but only functions against a limited subset of attacks.<blockquote>e.g. a magical ward against fire, but which doesn't protect against bullets.</blockquote> ==== Extreme Talent: Skills or Powers? ==== A number of forms of extreme talent can be represented as either Skills or as Powers. Parkour is one of the most common examples, possible to build either as simple high Athletics or as a rank of Speed, Leaping, and Wall-Crawling - another common example is heightened senses, possible as either high Perception or as various Sense options. The reason to build with Powers rather than Skills generally comes down to one of two reasons. First is consistency - as most power-built options of this type don't call for rolls, a character with high Athletics will have a chance to fail while climbing a wall in a way that a character with Wall-Crawling doesn't. Second is adding options that the skills alone don't grant - no point at the Perception skill will let you echolocate, but Senses 2: Accurate Hearing will. The reason to build with Skills rather than Powers generally comes down to wanting the other benefits provided by that skill which the power version doesn't give, often due to being more focused - Senses: Extended Vision allows you to see much farther away, but it doesn't let you spot things around you as well as +10 Perception does. Similarly, while a power-built Parkour power may allow you to climb faster than simple Athletics, it doesn't help you escape from Grabs. In the end, choosing between them largely comes down to personal preference. ==== Draining Effects: Affliction or Weaken? ==== Affliction (Impaired->Disabled->Transformed, limited to the specific trait being drained) is a way of representing draining attacks that can sometimes be more appropriate than Weaken. Affliction is best used when the drained trait would return all at once rather than slowly over time. ==== Versatility: Variable or an Array? ==== The Variable power should only be used when it is necessary for a concept. Keep in mind that most concepts who are designed to be versatile are able to accomplish that versatility using Power Stunts. Examples of concepts which may have genuine need for Variable include Power Mimics, versatile Shapeshifters, and focused Inventors. One way to determine if Variable is necessary is to try building the most common sets that Variable would use, then compare the cost of an array including all of those options to the price of a Variable that covers all of those options. As a general guideline, Variable is only cheaper if the array would include at least 2-3 options for each rank of Variable. Another way to see if Variable is necessary is to consider that same list of common sets, and try to come up with scenarios where you might need to use something outside of those prebuilt options. If you have difficulty imagining scenarios not covered by those sets, Variable is likely not necessary. ==== Inventors: the Invention advantage, Devices, or Slow Variable (Devices)? ==== Some characters have the skillset to create impressive works of technology or magical relics as an integral part of their concept. However, there are multiple ways to represent this. Note that these options are not exclusive. The Invention advantage best represents a character creating a new, temporary invention during a storyline to counter a specific threat. As it is relatively cheap - and also difficult to use in a living world setting - it is best taken as a flavor purchase, often on top of the other options. The Removable flaw, which turns a set of powers into a Removable or Easily Removable Device, best represents a specific set of items that are integral to a character's concept. If a character has the same inventions each time they appear, those inventions are most likely Devices. Slow Variable (Devices) gives a character a selection of PP which can be used to buy any Devices, reassigning them during downtime. If a character switches between different devices often, bringing different options to different appearances, those devices most likely come from a Slow Variable power. ==== Ridiculous Weapon Skills: Devices or Powers with a Quirk? ==== There are two ways to build a swordsman with ridiculous weapon skills, such as deflecting bullets. Either his sword is special, or they are. This also applies for characters like Green Arrow, Deadshot, and similar. If the skills are only usable with one particular weapon - due to a spiritual bonding, the weapon's inherent magical properties, a psychological belief, or any other reason - they should be built with a Device. If the skills are usable with any weapon of the appropriate type, they should be built as Powers with a -1 Quirk: Requires a [weapon]. The character will then either have a Device or a piece of Equipment which provides access to that Power. ==== Utility Belts, Guns, and Similar: Devices or Equipment? ==== The Removable Flaw should be used to create a Device whenever one or more of the following is true:<blockquote>The item isn't obtainable by an average wealthy person in the setting (e.g. a magical sword in a setting with magic kept secret from normal society). The item is unbreakable by ordinary means (e.g. a shield made from adamantium). The item uses technology with no theoretical basis under current understanding of physics (e.g. a personal teleporter, even if a rich person in the setting might have access to one). The item can only be used by one person and no one else, under normal circumstances. The item is important enough to the character's concept that taking it from them is a serious hindrance not to their ability to function, but to their ability to fulfill their concept. The item is not a prebuilt piece of Equipment out of the book, and is built with a rank of 7 or more.</blockquote>If none of the above is true, the item may be built as Equipment. ==== Unbreakable Items: Devices or Complications? ==== The Removable Flaw comes with three major drawbacks - that they can be destroyed, that they can be disarmed, and that they may not always be present. The first two drawbacks are mechanical, and the third is narrative. Removable Devices can be destroyed, but not stolen - Easily Removable Devices can be both destroyed and broken. However, you can pay extra to make a Device Indestructible. An Easily Removable Device can be Indestructible, if descriptors justify it. A Removable Device should never be Indestructible - if it would be, instead simply build it as a normal Power or set of Powers, and add a Power Loss Complication. ==== Sidekicks and Summons: the Minion Advantage, the Sidekick advantage, the Summon power, or flavor? ==== Most of the time, side characters of any kind shouldn't be built as Minions, Sidekicks, or Summon. Instead, build them as flavor for other powers.<blockquote>e.g. someone who summons ghosts should, rather than having Summon, have an array of ranged powers with Indirect 4, representing ghosts attacking on their behalf. e.g. someone with a helper who feeds them information through an earpiece should, rather than having a Sidekick, should have an Enhanced Trait power giving them extra skills and Advantages, as well as a Complication representing that that helper can be targeted. e.g. someone with a robotic drone that they control remotely should, rather than having Summon, have their character sheet be built as the drone, with Immortality representing rebuilding the drone, and a Complication representing their actual self.</blockquote>There are some exceptions to this - for example, a character whose concept is that they are two twins working together. Cases like these can generally be modeled by building the characters at a lower PL than the character is legally considered, using the guideline that two characters of PL A are equivalent to one character of PL A+2. For example, two twins built with PL6 offenses and defenses can be submitted as a PL8 character. Speak to a GM to determine if your concept fits this situation. ==== Steeds: Powers or Vehicles? ==== If, conceptually, you are always on your steed, then it should be a Power, using Removable or a Power Loss Complication to represent that it can take damage or be taken from you. Otherwise, it should be a Vehicle. This applies whether your steed is a flying carpet, a motorcycle, or a flying horse. ==== Moving Homes: Vehicles with Rooms or Headquarters with Moveable? ==== Imagine that your moving home is attacked as part of a game: If, in that scene, you pilot it to avoid dangers in the environment and your allies strike back through windows or using weapons built into the home, it is a Vehicle. If your home is invaded by attackers, and you fight them off within your home itself, it is a Headquarters. ae7de4fe7f9ec139ceb978b3f10dcea1617f15e1 47 46 2024-01-12T23:37:38Z AbyssWatcher 5 /* Banned Build Options */ wikitext text/x-wiki == Requirements for Characters == In simple terms, these are a handful of minimum requirements that all characters must satisfy in order to be approved. === Mechanics === Characters must be between PL8 and PL10, although some concepts using Sidekick or Summon may be allowed to build at lower PLs. All characters must spend all of their starting PP (150 power points, regardless of PL). Characters must meet at least 2/3 of their Defensive PL Caps, and their third must be within 2 ranks of being capped. Additionally, none of their Defenses can be less than half their PL.<blockquote>The three Defensive PL Caps are Toughness/Dodge, Toughness/Parry, and Fortitude/Will e.g. A PL8 character with all Defenses except Dodge at 8, with Dodge being 6, is acceptable. If Parry is also 6, they are failing 2 of their caps, and must revise. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable defenses outside of sheer rank.</blockquote>Characters must have at least one PL-capped attack which can defeat a foe (although not necessarily through incapacitation). Additionally, this attack must have a rank of at least half their PL.<blockquote>This attack can be Damage, or an Affliction that imposes a 3rd degree condition other than Unaware or Asleep. Exceptions may be made on a per-case basis for builds with usable attacks outside of sheer rank.</blockquote> === Complications === All characters ''must'' have a complication representing why they act as a hero. If they have no reason to be a hero, they are not a PC. All characters must have at least one complication in addition to their Motivation. === Additional Requirements === Characters may not use anything listed in the '''Banned Build Options''' section. Please pay special attention to the rules around Multiattack and Linked Effects. == Options from the Books == As per the optional rule in Power Profiles, the Luck advantage can be bought for hero point benefits beyond re-rolling a die roll. You may purchase Luck for any use of a hero point (including to fuel fortune advantages such as Beginner's Luck) with the exception of Luck: Inspire - that is, points to fuel the Inspire advantage, not the Inspiration use of a Hero Point, which is still allowed. Constructs can use Extra Effort, suffering the Impaired -> Disabled -> Incapacitated conditions instead of Fatigued -> Exhausted -> Impaired. If a construct PC is hit by an Affects Objects effect, they resist at Power Level. GMs may allow certain non-minion construct NPCs to resist Affects Objects effects at PL as well. == Homebrew Advantages == ==== Avoidance ==== You have a +2 circumstance bonus to skill checks to escape grabs and similar ensnaring effects. A second rank of this advantage increases the circumstance bonus to +5. This bonus only applies to escaping, not to the initial check to avoid the grab or snare. ==== Benefit, Assessment based on Tactics ==== Your ability to read others' combat skill is based in your own knowledge of combat, rather than your ability to read others in general. When you use Assessment, you may do so using your Tactics skill rather than your Insight. ==== Born for the Stage ==== You may make untrained checks with any artistic or performance skill as if you were trained, and gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the active use of that skill. ==== Damaging Escape ==== When you escape from a grab, you get an unarmed attack against the opponent as a reaction. You still have to roll to hit. ==== Domineer ==== Your threats stick with opponents and leave them distracted. When you successfully demoralize an opponent with the Intimidation skill, they remain Impaired for a number of rounds equal to the Degrees of Success on your initial check. With four or more Degrees of Success, your target is Disabled until the end of your next turn, then Impaired for the remaining duration. Additional attempts to demoralize the same opponent replace the remaining duration rather than add to it. ==== Exuding Confidence ==== You may use your Presence score to determine your Will defenses instead of Awareness. ==== Favored Friend ==== You have a particular type of ally you've studied or are especially effective with. It may be a type of creature (aliens, animals, constructs, metahumans, undead, etc.), a profession (soldiers, police officers, artists, etc.) or any other category the GM approves. Especially broad categories like 'humans' or ‘heroes’ are not permitted. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion checks dealing with your Favored Friend. This circumstance bonus is not limited by power level. ==== Intuitive Reflexes ==== You may use your Awareness score to determine your initiative, instead of your Agility. ==== Monkeywrencher ==== If you choose to attack a mechanical or electrical device or piece of equipment, such as a suit of power armor, a rifle, or a similar item, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Damage. With a second rank, your circumstance bonus is +5. As a rule of thumb, this bonus only applies to mechanisms that have moving parts, require electrical power, or are fueled by a chemical reaction. ==== Readied Rituals ==== Some ritualists have mastered the technique of performing an ritual and leaving it “paused” just on the edge of completion, such that it only takes a moment (and a standard action) to finish and activate them, allowing the ritualist to have an effect “readied” for quick use. Readied Ritual is a Benefit advantage (Hero’s Handbook, Chapter 5), with the following requirements and benefits: * To have the Readied Rituals Benefit, you must have the Ritualist advantage and be trained in its associated Ritual Skill. * You can only ready rituals with a cost equal to or less than your associated Ritual Skill bonus. More difficult rituals are too hard to hold “at the ready” without completing them. * You may have only one ritual readied at a time per rank of this advantage. * Readying a ritual takes the same amount of time as performing it, and you can fast-cast a ritual to ready it, if you wish. ==== Skill Knack ==== A skill knack allows a character to ignore one type of circumstance penalty for skill use. Existing examples include Improvised Tools (which removes the circumstance penalty for not having tools) or Animal Empathy (which removes the circumstance penalty on using interaction skills with animals). Other possibilities include removing circumstance penalties for Acrobatics or Athletics (moving at normal speeds, not vulnerable while in use, etc.), penalties for difficult disguises with Deception, and so forth. This advantage may not be taken to ignore the -5 penalty for Feinting, Demoralizing, or Tricking as a move action. ==== Strongarm ==== You can apply your Strength modifier rather than your Presence modifier to Intimidation checks. ==== Unnerving Assault ==== When you have a critical success on a noticeable attack or resistance check, you may make an immediate check to demoralize. ==== Withstand Damage ==== When using the Defend action, you can reduce active defenses by up to 2 to increase your Toughness by the same amount. A second rank allows you to take a reduction and increase of up to 5. == Banned Build Options == === Advantages === '''Fast Grab''' is banned. To replicate the same effect, use Linked Move Object (Reduced Range, Limited to Grabs). Note that if you remove the Limited to Grabs, the same effect power also works as a knockback effect. '''Holding Back''' is banned, with no exceptions. To replicate a similar effect, consider a character with an alt form or metamorph that raises them from PL8 to PL10, with a limit requiring them to spend hero points to shift PLs. '''Jack of All Trades''' is illegal if the character has an Intellect of 7 or higher. Additionally, please be aware that many GMs rule that Jack of All Trades (which allows you to roll skills despite being trained but does not actually make you trained) limit the maximum DC you can succeed at to DC 15, following guidelines on untrained Expertise skill usage. Total ranks of '''Luck''' are capped to PL.<blockquote>e.g. a PL8 character may have no more than 8 ranks of Luck, across all types of Luck.</blockquote>Individual types of '''Luck''' are capped to PL/2, rounded up. The exception is Luck: Recover, which is capped at 1 rank.<blockquote>e.g. a PL9 character may have no more than 5 ranks of Luck in a single type of Luck</blockquote>'''Luck: Inspire''' (that is, points of Luck used to fuel to Inspire advantage) is banned. === Powers === The '''Affliction''' power should not have more than a single rank of Extra Condition (that is, imposing 3 or more conditions at once) unless they are Limited Degree 2 (that is, only imposing first-degree conditions regardless of degrees of failure). If an Affliction applies Vulnerable or Defenseless and is Overcome by Dodge or Parry, it is Overcome by the unmodified Defense, without applying Vulnerable or Defenseless. Additionally, note that combining the Defenseless condition with the Disabled or Stunned conditions will be scrutinized heavily. '''Concealment''' that includes normal vision should have an appropriate limitation preventing it from being in use all the time for permanent Concealment bonuses.<blockquote>Passive is typically the most balanced option. Concentration is also a suitable limit. Partial - or even no limit at all, may also be appropriate if the character's attacks and Dodge/Parry are not capped against their Toughness.</blockquote>The Area extra may not be taken on the '''Deflect''' power. '''Flight''' may not be used with Limits to recreate other types of movement (e.g. Flight with Limited: Can Only Travel in Ballistic Arcs as a better version of Leaping, or Flight with Limited: Must remain in contact with a solid or liquid surface as a better version of Speed with Wall-Crawling and Water-Walking).<blockquote>However, note that Flight with a -1pp Quirk can be used to replicate wuxia-style movement, rather than Leaping with Limited Wall Crawling and Limited Water-Walking.</blockquote>The '''Growth''' and '''Shrinking''' powers as 2/r ranked powers are illegal. Instead, size should be set using a Feature, changing size rank by 1 category per PP or up to 3 mass categories per PP.<blockquote>Keep in mind that the default size and weight is Size Rank -2 (3-6 feet) and Mass Rank 2 (100-200 pounds). Characters may be very slightly outside this range for flavor reasons (e.g. being up to 6'6" and 250 pounds) but still count as Size Rank -2 and Mass Rank 2.</blockquote>The '''Healing''' power is illegal if taken at 6 ranks or higher. Additionally, the Area extra may not be taken on Healing. The area extra may not be taken on the '''Luck Control''' power. The '''Morph''' power may not be taken with more than 1 rank of Metamorph. The '''Sure-Footed''' option of the '''Movement''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to overcoming hindrances). The '''Regeneration''' power may only be taken at 1, 2, 5, or 10 ranks. If taken at 10 ranks, it must have a -1/rank Limitation.<blockquote>Please note that Regeneration which doesn't apply to a single common damage descriptor (such as Fire) is a -2pp Quirk, not a -1/rank Limit. To count as a Limit, it must not function against at a very common damage descriptor (such as Slashing/Piercing, Bludgeoning, or Energy), or at least 3 common damage descriptors.</blockquote>The '''Remote Sensing''' power is illegal if usable at the same time as a Perception Ranged attacking power (Affliction, Damage, or Weaken) with descriptors allowing it to be used through the Remote Sensing<blockquote>e.g. a Perception Ranged Damage power representing shooting a gun that always hits would be usable at the same time as a Remote Sensing power representing remotely accessing cameras, as the descriptors wouldn't allow them to be combined. A power representing astral projection and another representing a spiritual attack, however, have descriptors that can be combined, and therefore may not be used at the same time, but would be legal if taken as separate slots in the same Array.</blockquote>An Accurate sense with '''Penetrates Concealment''' must have a Limit preventing it from being activated at all times.<blockquote>Concentration and Distracting are both appropriate Limits for most similar powers.</blockquote>The '''Swimming''' power is banned. Instead, take ranks of Speed (Limited to while Swimming) and consider Skill Mastery: Athletics The '''Variable''' power may never be taken as an Alternate Effect, nor may it have Alternate Effects - essentially, it cannot be part of an Array. Additionally, the '''Variable''' power may not be upgraded to a Free Action if it has 4 or more ranks. === Power Flaws and Extras === The '''Area''' extra cannot be taken as partial ranks on a power with an effect rank above your PL, and it must be at least 2 ranks below the full ranks of the power. Do not use the '''Grab-Based''' flaw. Instead, consider making your power Perception Range with Limited to Close Range and Limited to targets you are grabbing, for +0/rank, to allow yourself to automatically strike a grabbed target with an effect other than Strength Damage. If you want to simultaneously grab a target and strike them with an effect other than damage, use Linked for +0/rank (although note the Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects rules below. The '''Innate''' extra is banned for any power other than Create. The '''Reaction''' extra is illegal on any power with a rank greater than half PL. The '''Triggered''' extra is illegal at a rank greater than half PL (not counting a rank to have a Variable Trigger or Selective trigger). === Improved Critical, Multiattack, and Linked Effects === All of the above are allowed, but we restrict some elements of them and how they interact to prevent powergaming and anti-climactic combats where one PC effortlessly ends the encounter. * Attacks with Effect Ranks equal to Power Level are allowed two Ranks of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack exceeds Power Level, it is allowed one less Rank of Improved Critical. * For every two Effect Ranks an Attack is below Power Level, it is allowed one more Rank of Improved Critical. * Attacks with Multiattack and/or a Linked Effect applied are allowed two less Ranks of Improved Critical for each option applied. * If an Attack under these rules would be allowed fewer than zero Ranks of Improved Critical, that Power is not allowed on our server. * Powers with significant Flaws or that don’t meet Power Level caps may get per-case exceptions. * Powers still cannot have more than four Ranks of Improved Critical, as normal. <blockquote>e.g. for a PL10 character, a Damage 10 power may have either Multiattack or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 12 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have Multiattack. A Damage 6 Power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 2 or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 4 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3. e.g. for a PL8 character, a Damage 8 power may have either a Linked Effect or Improved Critical 2. A Damage 10 power may have Improved Critical 1, but cannot have a Linked Effect. A Damage 4 power may have a Linked Effect and Multiattack on both effects, or a Linked Effect and Improved Critical 2, or Improved Critical 4. A Damage 2 power may have Multiattack and Improved Critical 3.</blockquote> == Rules of Fair Play == There are several rules - both mechanical and otherwise - which GMs are asked to keep in mind when running games and players are asked to keep in mind when building. Some of the most important as as follows: '''Mechanics should be backed up by thematics, and vice versa.''' If something is on your character sheet, it should be thematically coherent, able to be explained by your character's backstory and concept. Certain powers, advantages, and skills are particularly effective for any build (e.g. Luck Control, Evasion, or Perception) even if they don't thematically make sense for a character - make sure that you only make purchases which make sense for your character's concept. Part of this is not giving your character ridiculously high skill bonuses unless their concept actually demands it, and using Limited versions of those traits when appropriate (for example, a character with good hearing would likely have Perception Limited to Hearing rather than normal Perception). Similarly, do your best to make sure that aspects of your character are represented in their mechanics as well - often through Abilities and Expertise skills. '''Characters shouldn't be able to do everything on their own.''' This is a team game, and characters who are capable of dealing with any situation and every problem better than anyone else aren't fun to play with. Your character should have both strengths and weaknesses. '''Generalist characters shouldn't outshine specialist characters.''' Again, this is a team game, and everyone deserve a chance to have their character shine in their particular field. Characters with specialized, narrow skill sets and concepts should be able to be the expert in their field and when their concept is relevant - meanwhile, characters with broad skill sets and generalist concepts shine when a specialist isn't present, able to be more adaptable to multiple situations. As part of this concept, '''narrow skills should be more capable than broader skills.''' This is generally accomplished via giving the narrow skill a lower DC than the broader skill - for example, the information that someone with Expertise: Biology might get on a DC 15 check might only be available to someone with Expertise: Science on a DC 20 check. As a general rule, a narrow skill should have DCs 5 lower than the broader skill, although this may vary depending on exactly how much narrower the skill is. '''A Complication is an invitation.''' Adding a complication to a character's sheet is an implicit invitation for the GM to use that complication - similarly, an Uncontrolled power is an invitation for the GM to use that power. Conversely, leaving a complication ''off'' of a character's sheet should tell the GM ''not'' to use it, even if it's one that would be reasonable for the character to have - for example, a character with a secret identity but not a Secret Identity complication shouldn't be threatened with having their identity threatened. '''Be kind and don't break the game.''' There are numerous ways to combine disparate aspects of the system that are unbalanced, such as combining Untapped Potential and Extraordinary Effort, using an Environment power or similar to provide your own Favored Environment, and using Improved Aim then Extra Effort and Power Attack to attack with +5 to hit and +5 to rank in a single round. Please don't do things like this. GMs will keep an eye out for builds that could theoretically do so, and may quiz the player to make sure that they don't plan to do so, or may require changes to the sheet even to things that are not hard-banned. == Guidelines for Unclear Options == The following are guidelines for how to deal with parts of the system with little or insufficient guidance. === Pricing Guidelines === The Feature power can be used to gain circumstance bonuses to certain rolls, but should not do so at greater efficiency than Skill Ranks. General guidelines are as follows:<blockquote>A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill, or a particular use of multiple skills, only in a limited set of circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. Compare to the Attractive advantage to see if the circumstances are limited enough. A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. A Feature that gives a non-circumstantial bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances should be a Limited Enhanced Skill, giving 4 skill ranks for that specific use for 1pp, rather than a Feature.</blockquote>Immunity can be used for descriptors outside those explicitly listed in the book. General guidelines to the price of these are as follows:<blockquote> 1PP: descriptors that are primarily flavor, or immunity to individual people's powers. 2PP: descriptors that are particularly rare, or subsets of 5pp immunities (e.g. Immunity to a specific Interaction skill or emotion rather than all Interaction skills or emotions). 5PP: descriptors that are common, but only as used for a single power (e.g. Damage of a specific descriptor, a particular type of Affliction such as entrapment or sensory attacks). 10pp: descriptors that are common, as used for multiple powers. 20pp: extremely common descriptors that subsume multiple 10pp descriptors. Note that Slashing and Piercing count as a single 20pp descriptor.</blockquote> === When to Use Different Options === MnM has a number of ways to build similar powers using different effects. Here are some common points of confusion: ==== Protecting Others: Create, Deflect, Affects Others Immunity? ==== Create should be used when your power can provide shelter from area attacks, or when it can be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical forcefield that blocks all attacks, until shattered by a powerful strike.</blockquote>Deflect should be used when your power can redirect attacks, or when it can be pierced by a sufficiently accurate attack.<blockquote>e.g. a magical shield that darts around an area to intercept attacks, but may fail to block a strike that comes to quickly.</blockquote>Affects Others Immunity should be used when your power is unbreakable, but only functions against a limited subset of attacks.<blockquote>e.g. a magical ward against fire, but which doesn't protect against bullets.</blockquote> ==== Extreme Talent: Skills or Powers? ==== A number of forms of extreme talent can be represented as either Skills or as Powers. Parkour is one of the most common examples, possible to build either as simple high Athletics or as a rank of Speed, Leaping, and Wall-Crawling - another common example is heightened senses, possible as either high Perception or as various Sense options. The reason to build with Powers rather than Skills generally comes down to one of two reasons. First is consistency - as most power-built options of this type don't call for rolls, a character with high Athletics will have a chance to fail while climbing a wall in a way that a character with Wall-Crawling doesn't. Second is adding options that the skills alone don't grant - no point at the Perception skill will let you echolocate, but Senses 2: Accurate Hearing will. The reason to build with Skills rather than Powers generally comes down to wanting the other benefits provided by that skill which the power version doesn't give, often due to being more focused - Senses: Extended Vision allows you to see much farther away, but it doesn't let you spot things around you as well as +10 Perception does. Similarly, while a power-built Parkour power may allow you to climb faster than simple Athletics, it doesn't help you escape from Grabs. In the end, choosing between them largely comes down to personal preference. ==== Draining Effects: Affliction or Weaken? ==== Affliction (Impaired->Disabled->Transformed, limited to the specific trait being drained) is a way of representing draining attacks that can sometimes be more appropriate than Weaken. Affliction is best used when the drained trait would return all at once rather than slowly over time. ==== Versatility: Variable or an Array? ==== The Variable power should only be used when it is necessary for a concept. Keep in mind that most concepts who are designed to be versatile are able to accomplish that versatility using Power Stunts. Examples of concepts which may have genuine need for Variable include Power Mimics, versatile Shapeshifters, and focused Inventors. One way to determine if Variable is necessary is to try building the most common sets that Variable would use, then compare the cost of an array including all of those options to the price of a Variable that covers all of those options. As a general guideline, Variable is only cheaper if the array would include at least 2-3 options for each rank of Variable. Another way to see if Variable is necessary is to consider that same list of common sets, and try to come up with scenarios where you might need to use something outside of those prebuilt options. If you have difficulty imagining scenarios not covered by those sets, Variable is likely not necessary. ==== Inventors: the Invention advantage, Devices, or Slow Variable (Devices)? ==== Some characters have the skillset to create impressive works of technology or magical relics as an integral part of their concept. However, there are multiple ways to represent this. Note that these options are not exclusive. The Invention advantage best represents a character creating a new, temporary invention during a storyline to counter a specific threat. As it is relatively cheap - and also difficult to use in a living world setting - it is best taken as a flavor purchase, often on top of the other options. The Removable flaw, which turns a set of powers into a Removable or Easily Removable Device, best represents a specific set of items that are integral to a character's concept. If a character has the same inventions each time they appear, those inventions are most likely Devices. Slow Variable (Devices) gives a character a selection of PP which can be used to buy any Devices, reassigning them during downtime. If a character switches between different devices often, bringing different options to different appearances, those devices most likely come from a Slow Variable power. ==== Ridiculous Weapon Skills: Devices or Powers with a Quirk? ==== There are two ways to build a swordsman with ridiculous weapon skills, such as deflecting bullets. Either his sword is special, or they are. This also applies for characters like Green Arrow, Deadshot, and similar. If the skills are only usable with one particular weapon - due to a spiritual bonding, the weapon's inherent magical properties, a psychological belief, or any other reason - they should be built with a Device. If the skills are usable with any weapon of the appropriate type, they should be built as Powers with a -1 Quirk: Requires a [weapon]. The character will then either have a Device or a piece of Equipment which provides access to that Power. ==== Utility Belts, Guns, and Similar: Devices or Equipment? ==== The Removable Flaw should be used to create a Device whenever one or more of the following is true:<blockquote>The item isn't obtainable by an average wealthy person in the setting (e.g. a magical sword in a setting with magic kept secret from normal society). The item is unbreakable by ordinary means (e.g. a shield made from adamantium). The item uses technology with no theoretical basis under current understanding of physics (e.g. a personal teleporter, even if a rich person in the setting might have access to one). The item can only be used by one person and no one else, under normal circumstances. The item is important enough to the character's concept that taking it from them is a serious hindrance not to their ability to function, but to their ability to fulfill their concept. The item is not a prebuilt piece of Equipment out of the book, and is built with a rank of 7 or more.</blockquote>If none of the above is true, the item may be built as Equipment. ==== Unbreakable Items: Devices or Complications? ==== The Removable Flaw comes with three major drawbacks - that they can be destroyed, that they can be disarmed, and that they may not always be present. The first two drawbacks are mechanical, and the third is narrative. Removable Devices can be destroyed, but not stolen - Easily Removable Devices can be both destroyed and broken. However, you can pay extra to make a Device Indestructible. An Easily Removable Device can be Indestructible, if descriptors justify it. A Removable Device should never be Indestructible - if it would be, instead simply build it as a normal Power or set of Powers, and add a Power Loss Complication. ==== Sidekicks and Summons: the Minion Advantage, the Sidekick advantage, the Summon power, or flavor? ==== Most of the time, side characters of any kind shouldn't be built as Minions, Sidekicks, or Summon. Instead, build them as flavor for other powers.<blockquote>e.g. someone who summons ghosts should, rather than having Summon, have an array of ranged powers with Indirect 4, representing ghosts attacking on their behalf. e.g. someone with a helper who feeds them information through an earpiece should, rather than having a Sidekick, should have an Enhanced Trait power giving them extra skills and Advantages, as well as a Complication representing that that helper can be targeted. e.g. someone with a robotic drone that they control remotely should, rather than having Summon, have their character sheet be built as the drone, with Immortality representing rebuilding the drone, and a Complication representing their actual self.</blockquote>There are some exceptions to this - for example, a character whose concept is that they are two twins working together. Cases like these can generally be modeled by building the characters at a lower PL than the character is legally considered, using the guideline that two characters of PL A are equivalent to one character of PL A+2. For example, two twins built with PL6 offenses and defenses can be submitted as a PL8 character. Speak to a GM to determine if your concept fits this situation. ==== Steeds: Powers or Vehicles? ==== If, conceptually, you are always on your steed, then it should be a Power, using Removable or a Power Loss Complication to represent that it can take damage or be taken from you. Otherwise, it should be a Vehicle. This applies whether your steed is a flying carpet, a motorcycle, or a flying horse. ==== Moving Homes: Vehicles with Rooms or Headquarters with Moveable? ==== Imagine that your moving home is attacked as part of a game: If, in that scene, you pilot it to avoid dangers in the environment and your allies strike back through windows or using weapons built into the home, it is a Vehicle. If your home is invaded by attackers, and you fight them off within your home itself, it is a Headquarters. 3786f587c30b680e74be68aa23253bc56b3864a9 0 14 21 2024-01-08T05:13:48Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with "# Characters must be over 18 in practice and in play. # Characters must have some motivation to be heroic. # Characters cannot kill or be villains. # Check that the character's backstory isn't unworkable. # Check that the character has at least 2 Complications, and that at least one of them is a Motivation. # Check that Defensive PL caps aren't broken, and that at least 2/3 of the pairings are at cap. # Check that there's at least 1 PL-capped attack. # Check that other O..." wikitext text/x-wiki # Characters must be over 18 in practice and in play. # Characters must have some motivation to be heroic. # Characters cannot kill or be villains. # Check that the character's backstory isn't unworkable. # Check that the character has at least 2 Complications, and that at least one of them is a Motivation. # Check that Defensive PL caps aren't broken, and that at least 2/3 of the pairings are at cap. # Check that there's at least 1 PL-capped attack. # Check that other Offensive PL caps aren't broken. # Check that no banned Advantages have been taken. # Check that no banned Powers or Extras have been taken. #* Pay particular attention to Multiattack and Linked Effects. # Judge whether the character's Skill Bonuses are too high based on their Advantages and concept. #* Pay particular attention to Intimidation, due to Demoralizing. #* Pay particular attention to Deception, due to Feinting (particularly if combined with ranks of Setup) and Demoralizing (if combined with Taunt). #* Pay particular attention to Acrobatics if combined with Agile Feint, due to Feinting (particularly if combined with ranks of Setup). #* Pay particular attention to Expertise: Tactics if combined with Tactical Training, due to Feinting and Demoralizing (particularly if combined with ranks of Setup and Assist: Tactical Training). #* Pay particular attention to broad skills (Technology, Expertise: Science, and Expertise: Magic). #* Pay particular attention to Perception (particularly if combined with Sense powers or Remote Senses). #* Pay particular attention to Insight. # Check that prices add correctly: ## If the character is submitted using Herolab: ### Make sure that Limits, Quirks, and similar custom flaws and extras are appropriately costed. ### Make sure that Enhanced Traits are not being used to get points back - recall that the minimum price for a power, regardless of flaws, is 1pp. ### Make sure that Vision is properly counted as worth 2 sense types for Concealment, Illusion, and Remote Sensing. ### Make sure that that Features and Immunities are properly costed (see above for pricing guidelines). ## If the character is submitted as a spreadsheet: ### Perform the same checks as with Herolab characters. ### Make sure that the sheet prices Removable devices correctly - that it rounds to the nearest multiple of 5 (rather than always rounding up or down), that it gives the Easily Removable discount as -2 at a time (rather than giving -1 every 2.5 PP), and that Indestructible is added after the discount rather than before. ### Make sure that each manually-priced piece of the sheet is costed correctly. ### Make sure that all parts of the sheet are being properly detected for any automated PP counting performed by the sheet. ## If the character is submitted as a document: ### Perform the same checks as with Herolab and spreadsheet characters. ### Make sure that all parts of the sheet correctly add together. ==== Things to Double-Check ==== Characters with Advantages granting them special uses of a skill (e.g. Assessment, Contacts, Well-Informed) should have at least +5, preferably +8 or more, in the relevant skill. Certain combinations of powers or advantages deserve extra scrutiny - particularly Improved Aim and Power Attack, and Extraordinary Effort and Untapped Potential. The Variable power must have an inherent limitation in what it can be used to gain.<blockquote>Essentially, it must be pared down from an imaginary power that can be used to gain ''any'' trait by a limit that would be worth at least -1/rank. 'Magic' is not a suitable limitation for Variable, but 'Conjuration Magic' may be. 'Only Devices' is an appropriate limit (and essentially imposes a single level of the Removeable flaw on all traits gained using Variable for no discount, although a second rank still gives a discount). Further limiting what sort of traits Variable can give ''is'' permitted - e.g. a Variable that grants any physical trait may be further limited to only traits possessed by animals.</blockquote> 2bf477497d2ba93c5223801bf6228995a4e3aaa8 22 21 2024-01-08T05:19:12Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki # Characters must be over 18 in practice and in play. # Characters cannot kill or be villains. # Check that the character's backstory isn't unworkable. # Check that the character has at least 2 Complications, and that at least one of them is a Motivation. # Check that Defensive PL caps aren't broken, and that at least 2/3 of the pairings are at cap. # Check that there's at least 1 PL-capped attack, and that its rank is at least 1/2 PL. # Check that other Offensive PL caps aren't broken. # Check that no banned Advantages have been taken. # Check that no banned Powers or Extras have been taken. #* Pay particular attention to Multiattack and Linked Effects. # Judge whether the character's Skill Bonuses are too high based on their Advantages and concept. #* Pay particular attention to Intimidation, due to Demoralizing. #* Pay particular attention to Deception, due to Feinting (particularly if combined with ranks of Setup) and Demoralizing (if combined with Taunt). #* Pay particular attention to Acrobatics if combined with Agile Feint, due to Feinting (particularly if combined with ranks of Setup). #* Pay particular attention to Expertise: Tactics if combined with Tactical Training, due to Feinting and Demoralizing (particularly if combined with ranks of Setup and Assist: Tactical Training). #* Pay particular attention to broad skills (Technology, Expertise: Science, and Expertise: Magic). #* Pay particular attention to Perception (particularly if combined with Sense powers or Remote Senses). #* Pay particular attention to Insight. # Check that prices add correctly: ## If the character is submitted using Herolab: ### Make sure that Limits, Quirks, and similar custom flaws and extras are appropriately costed. ### Make sure that Enhanced Traits are not being used to get points back - recall that the minimum price for a power, regardless of flaws, is 1pp. ### Make sure that Vision is properly counted as worth 2 sense types for Concealment, Illusion, and Remote Sensing. ### Make sure that that Features and Immunities are properly costed (see above for pricing guidelines). ## If the character is submitted as a spreadsheet: ### Perform the same checks as with Herolab characters. ### Make sure that the sheet prices Removable devices correctly - that it rounds to the nearest multiple of 5 (rather than always rounding up or down), that it gives the Easily Removable discount as -2 at a time (rather than giving -1 every 2.5 PP), and that Indestructible is added after the discount rather than before. ### Make sure that each manually-priced piece of the sheet is costed correctly. ### Make sure that all parts of the sheet are being properly detected for any automated PP counting performed by the sheet. ## If the character is submitted as a document: ### Perform the same checks as with Herolab and spreadsheet characters. ### Make sure that all parts of the sheet correctly add together. ==== Things to Double-Check ==== Characters with Advantages granting them special uses of a skill (e.g. Assessment, Contacts, Well-Informed) should have at least +5, preferably +8 or more, in the relevant skill. Certain combinations of powers or advantages deserve extra scrutiny - particularly Improved Aim and Power Attack, and Extraordinary Effort and Untapped Potential. The Variable power must have an inherent limitation in what it can be used to gain.<blockquote>Essentially, it must be pared down from an imaginary power that can be used to gain ''any'' trait by a limit that would be worth at least -1/rank. 'Magic' is not a suitable limitation for Variable, but 'Conjuration Magic' may be. 'Only Devices' is an appropriate limit (and essentially imposes a single level of the Removeable flaw on all traits gained using Variable for no discount, although a second rank still gives a discount). Further limiting what sort of traits Variable can give ''is'' permitted - e.g. a Variable that grants any physical trait may be further limited to only traits possessed by animals.</blockquote> 6db477179083158cca13ca2e9376d2f73bbe998e 24 22 2024-01-08T06:00:30Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki Refer to [[Houserules|the houserules]] to see what's banned, as well as pricing guidelines for features and immunities. # Characters must be over 18 in practice and in play. # Characters cannot kill or be villains. # Check that the character's backstory isn't unworkable. # Check that the character has at least 2 Complications, and that at least one of them is a Motivation. # Check that Defensive PL caps aren't broken, and that at least 2/3 of the pairings are at cap. # Check that there's at least 1 PL-capped attack, and that its rank is at least 1/2 PL. # Check that other Offensive PL caps aren't broken. # Check that no banned Advantages have been taken. # Check that no banned Powers or Extras have been taken. #* Pay particular attention to Multiattack and Linked Effects. # Judge whether the character's Skill Bonuses are too high based on their Advantages and concept. #* Pay particular attention to Intimidation, due to Demoralizing. #* Pay particular attention to Deception, due to Feinting (particularly if combined with ranks of Setup) and Demoralizing (if combined with Taunt). #* Pay particular attention to Acrobatics if combined with Agile Feint, due to Feinting (particularly if combined with ranks of Setup). #* Pay particular attention to Expertise: Tactics if combined with Tactical Training, due to Feinting and Demoralizing (particularly if combined with ranks of Setup and Assist: Tactical Training). #* Pay particular attention to broad skills (Technology, Expertise: Science, and Expertise: Magic). #* Pay particular attention to Perception (particularly if combined with Sense powers or Remote Senses). #* Pay particular attention to Insight. # Check that prices add correctly: ## If the character is submitted using Herolab: ### Make sure that Limits, Quirks, and similar custom flaws and extras are appropriately costed. ### Make sure that Enhanced Traits are not being used to get points back - recall that the minimum price for a power, regardless of flaws, is 1pp. ### Make sure that Vision is properly counted as worth 2 sense types for Concealment, Illusion, and Remote Sensing. ### Make sure that that Features and Immunities are properly costed. ## If the character is submitted as a spreadsheet: ### Perform the same checks as with Herolab characters. ### Make sure that the sheet prices Removable devices correctly - that it rounds to the nearest multiple of 5 (rather than always rounding up or down), that it gives the Easily Removable discount as -2 at a time (rather than giving -1 every 2.5 PP), and that Indestructible is added after the discount rather than before. ### Make sure that each manually-priced piece of the sheet is costed correctly. ### Make sure that all parts of the sheet are being properly detected for any automated PP counting performed by the sheet. ## If the character is submitted as a document: ### Perform the same checks as with Herolab and spreadsheet characters. ### Make sure that all parts of the sheet correctly add together. ==== Things to Double-Check ==== Characters with Advantages granting them special uses of a skill (e.g. Assessment, Contacts, Well-Informed) should have at least +5, preferably +8 or more, in the relevant skill. Certain combinations of powers or advantages deserve extra scrutiny - particularly Improved Aim and Power Attack, and Extraordinary Effort and Untapped Potential. The Variable power must have an inherent limitation in what it can be used to gain.<blockquote>Essentially, it must be pared down from an imaginary power that can be used to gain ''any'' trait by a limit that would be worth at least -1/rank. 'Magic' is not a suitable limitation for Variable, but 'Conjuration Magic' may be. 'Only Devices' is an appropriate limit (and essentially imposes a single level of the Removeable flaw on all traits gained using Variable for no discount, although a second rank still gives a discount). Further limiting what sort of traits Variable can give ''is'' permitted - e.g. a Variable that grants any physical trait may be further limited to only traits possessed by animals.</blockquote> 798d34c352ef8cc0e95ba02fbb8b7b265b86fb4d 0 15 25 2024-01-08T06:03:23Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with "GMing a game can be daunting. GMing for Mutants and Masterminds in particular can be downright frightening, given how complex character creation can be - and as a GM, it may feel like you need to fully flesh out every single villain and NPC who appears in a plot. In order to help new GMs, this page contains advice and guidelines for running games and building villainous characters. = Void's Advice = == Planning a Fun Game == === Outside-In Planning === When planning..." wikitext text/x-wiki GMing a game can be daunting. GMing for Mutants and Masterminds in particular can be downright frightening, given how complex character creation can be - and as a GM, it may feel like you need to fully flesh out every single villain and NPC who appears in a plot. In order to help new GMs, this page contains advice and guidelines for running games and building villainous characters. = Void's Advice = == Planning a Fun Game == === Outside-In Planning === When planning to run a game, it can be tempting to start with the idea of a particular small-scale scene and build up from there - you want to run a game that includes a confrontation at a waterfall, say. While this can work in some cases, it has a tendency to result in somewhat flat villains, created for the purpose of that specific scene, which can difficult to reuse. For that reason, I suggest taking an outside-in approach instead. To come up with a game, start with the villain - you can then work inwards repeatedly to create multiple plots using the same villain. Doing so should look something like this: * '''Villain Concept''' ** '''Villain's Overall Goal''' *** '''Villain's Current Objective.''' **** '''Villain's Actions''' ***** '''How the Heroes Find Out''' ***** '''How the Heroes Are Expected to React''' ****** ''Multiple possible paths'' ****** ''Each should ultimately lead to the same ending.'' ****** ''Be willing to adapt the plot if the players veer off it.'' ***** '''How the Game Ends''' ***** '''Ramnifications of the Game''' ****** ''If the heroes win'' ****** ''If the villain wins'' ****** ''Other possible endings'' An example of this structure might look like this: * Concept: a werewolf who, rather than being a feral beast, is a trained mage. ** Goal: Immortality *** Current Objective: Use a magical artifact as the centerpiece of a ritual to become immortal. **** Actions: Steal the artifact. ***** Finding Out: After the theft, the museum the artifact was in asks the heroes for help. ***** Reactions: ****** Investigate the artifact and discover what it could be used for. ****** Investigate the theft and track down the thief. ****** Lay a trap for a second theft. ******* Add a second artifact the villain also needs for them to set the trap around. ***** Ending: Confrontation with the villain as the ritual takes place. ****** Heroes win: The stolen artifact(s) are returned to the museum, the villain has a grudge against them. ******* Villain escapes: has a hideout that the heroes can potentially track him to in a sequel game. ******* Villain is captured: will be imprisoned for a while but eventually get out. ******* Villain is killed: may be contacted by another villain as a ghostly mentor. ****** Villain wins: the villain finds a new goal (likely a grudge against one or more of the heroes) to pursue. ****** Other possibilities: ******* The ritual is interrupted and has a negative effect on the surroundings. ******* One of the heroes hijacks the ritual and becomes immortal instead of the villain. By starting with different current objectives - or even with different actions or ways the heroes can discover the actions - a wide variety of games can be created around the same villain. === Designing Locations and NPCs === If you're not great at improvising characters and locations, make sure to prepare them ahead of time. The general guideline I try to go by when doing so is that any location the players might end up at should have a name, at least one piece of trivia, and at least one character associated with it. In the example mentioned above, one location would be the museum that the werewolf stole from. In addition to the name, trivia might be that the museum burned down and was rebuilt several years ago, which could mean that solving the theft is particularly important to its continued existence, as the item may have been one of the few non-replicas it contained. Meanwhile, a character to associate with it might be the museum's curator. To create an interesting character, it's generally good to have a name, at least one physical trait, and at least one personality trait. For example, the curator might be a short woman with a blonde pixie cut and a tendency to chew gum while talking to people. Both characters and locations can expand from this base - however, having that base to work from is very helpful. === Noncombat Sections === The other big thing to remember about MnM is that pure combat is boring. A game should not be just one combat and nothing else - if it is, players will feel free to blow their resources (Hero Points, Luck Points, and Extra Effort), concentrate their fire on the main villain with Team Attacks, etc. You need to throw in additional layers so that the game is more interesting. The most common ways are through investigation and skill challenges. ==== Investigation ==== Investigation is tricky, but can add to the meat of a game and help the players feel that they're learning more about the villain and the world (and learning through their own actions, rather than by having exposition be fed to them). My biggest piece of advice for investigation is to make sure that the most important information is the easiest to find - let it be found in multiple ways and locations. I also tend to abstract investigation a bit by just having people make rolls and ask for information, and then describe what they did to find it (as opposed to making them tell me what specifically they're looking at and investigating) ==== Skill Challenges ==== Skill Challenges can be summed up as: throw in various challenging situations and issues that aren't directly combat. Let people use whatever skills they want if they're relevant (or use powers to bypass a check), but not to reuse the same skill repeatedly. This is good for things like challenging environments you need to go through to get to a villain or to escape from a deathtrap (for example, making your way through a jungle that's overtaken the city because the Green Mile took over and released fast-growing plants across the tri-state area). They're are also a good way to abstract an extended stealth section - make sure that a player isn't just rolling Stealth or bypassing the challenge with Concealment, though. Include things like distracting guards away from an area, hacking into security systems, searching a room for keys, etc. When running a skill challenge, it tends to be a good idea to establish an initiative order - however, that order rarely represents entering combat time, but is just to ensure that each player has a chance to help. ===== Classic Skill Challenges ===== The standard way to run a skill challenge is to pick a DC, a certain number of total successes - 5 is common - and a number of total fails - often 3. Players need to attempt to use various skills or powers to tackle the challenge, describing how they use that skill to make progress, and must achieve that number of successes before that number of failures. If they reach the required number of successes, they win the challenge - if they reach the specified failures, they lose it. Because MnM includes degrees of successes, it's possible to have each degree of success or failure count towards the challenge rather than simple the total number of successes or failures. For this kind of challenge, double the required successes. In some cases, failure isn't an option - for example, while failing a stealth section can mean that you get caught and have to fight, but a failing a traversal section can result in a boring end to a game as you simply don't arrive. For this kind of challenge, don't have a number of total failures that results in losing the challenge - instead, each failure imposes a penalty on the PCs. The easiest penalty is to give a Bruise to the hero who failed, representing them exerting themself rather than actual combat damage, but other penalties can be appropriate as well - for example, if the skill challenge involves rescuing civilians, a failure may mean that a civilian ends up dying before they can be rescued. In cases like this, there may not even be a total number of successes to reach, but instead a total number of checks that can be made, representing civilians who can either be successfully rescued or who can die. ===== Multi-Pronged Challenges ===== Another way to run skill challenges is to set up multiple challenges that players can attempt, which can influence each other through success and failure, and have unaddressed challenges count as failures. Make sure that there are enough challenges that the players have to stretch themselves, and that there are consequence for failures that can impact the other challenges. When running skill challenges like this, I suggest having three to five sub-challenges (too many becomes too much to keep an eye on - from both sides of things), with one serving as an overall win condition, one serving as an overall lose condition, and the others making things generally more difficult when not. For example, a burning building might be made up of three sub-challenges: * Rescuing trapped civilians - clearing this challenge would be a win condition. ** Success on a check to rescue civilians would obviously save people, but the DC would rise each time as there are fewer and fewer people to rescue - pick a cap on the DC at which point that challenge has been won. * Putting out the fire ** The fire's DC would lower each time you succeed on a check to fight the fire, as it slowly goes out, but ignoring the challenge or failing against it would let the DC rise as the flames spread, and might also make it harder to fight the collapse of the building by increasing the DC of that challenge as well. ** If the DC rises too high, the fire might spread to another nearby building, adding an extra collapse challenge and rescue challenge. * Preventing the building from collapsing - failing this challenge would be a loss condition ** The building collapsing might be a timer that goes down each round, with successes on the skill challenge delaying the collapse or even reversing the timer, and failures accelerating the collapse until the building falls apart, killing any civilians still inside. ** You might consider letting this challenge be cleared by reversing the collapse timer enough. This multi-pronged approach is more difficult to design and run than the single-DC skill challenge, but can be more interesting and interactive for players, forcing them to make choices about what challenges to prioritize in addition to brainstorming how to use the skills. === Chase Scenes === Chase scenes can be handled in a variety of ways, but lets start with how ''not'' to do them. ''Don't'' run a chase scene with a grid and keep careful track of positioning and speed. Firstly it's not very interesting, and secondly that's the case because speeds in MnM are logarithmic, like other measurements - Speed 5 is twice as fast as Speed 4, which means that catching up to anyone slower than you is trivial and escaping anyone faster is impossible. Instead, consider one of the following methods: ==== Simple Skill Chase ==== Best suited for ad-hoc chases, a simple skill chase is a sort of simplified skill challenge that works whenever one person is chasing another. Both parties will make three opposed checks which represents aspects of a chase, and whoever wins the majority catches up to the other. The three checks are... * Athletics, representing your ability to push yourself and move at high speed. ** Characters with a greater movement speed than their opponent have a +2 to this check, +5 if they have 2 or more ranks past their opponent. If a character has 3 or more ranks of movement speed on their opponent, they win this check automatically. * Stamina, representing your ability to keep up the chase and continue pushing yourself. ** Great Endurance applies to this check, and characters with Immunity to Fatigue effects automatically win it unless their opponent also has Immunity to Fatigue - if so, flip a coin. * Acrobatics, representing your ability to maneuver in tight spaces and actually catch your opponent at the end of a chase. ** Characters with no ranks in Acrobatics may roll with their Agility at a -2 penalty. ==== Full Skill Chase ==== A slightly more complex chase scene can be done as a more standard skill challenge. Give the fleeing character a counter representing their lead when the chase starts, often 3 or 5. The pursuer and escapee then take turns making checks opposed by the other - opposed athletics checks, attack rolls to slow their opponent, or anything else appropriate. Any degrees of success by the escapee are added to their counter - any degrees of success by the pursuer are subtracted from it. If the counter reaches 0, the chasing character wins the chase - if it reaches a specified higher number (often 7 or 10), the fleeing character escapes. ==== Mousetrap Chase ==== A third-party book called [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mh6qhX2brOcbKleUNJDXYjTvMQYvVOdp/view?usp=share_link Better Mousetrap] offers a complex set of rules they call Hot Pursuit. The following is a somewhat simplified adaptation - and yes, this ''is'' simpler despite the complexity of them. This set of rules is best used when the chase scene is the primary scene of the game. For those on foot or otherwise moving under their own power, replace calls for Vehicles checks with Athletics checks - for living mounts instead of vehicles, use Expertise: Riding. ===== Terminology ===== Each person involved with a chase has a counter called their ''position'', measured in ''lengths'' - each length is an abstract unit that is generally equal to the current speed of the chase. Your starting position as a pursuer is equal to your Vehicles score - your starting position as a target is equal to your Vehicles score +10. The chase as a whole has ''terrain'', which can be either open, close, or tight. Open terrain has few obstacles (e.g. an open plain or highway), close terrain is narrow and has things that you can bump into (e.g. city streets or twisting mountain roads), and tight terrain is constantly filled with obstacles and dangers (e.g. an asteroid field or busy street). The chase also has a ''current'' ''speed'', which represents the average speed of the participants in the chase. Each round that you're in a chase with a higher speed than you are capable of, your position drops. At times you may be called to make a control check to maneuver your vehicle or prevent a crash. A control check is a DC 15 Vehicles check made with a penalty equal to the current speed of the chase. If you fail the check, you crash, and both your vehicle and any passengers take damage equal to the current speed of the chase, +5 if you aren't in a vehicle. A crash reduces your position by 5 lengths, but you don't lose the chase unless you are knocked out or your vehicle is destroyed. ===== How to Chase as a Driver ===== At the beginning of each turn, you may have to deal with an obstacle. Roll a d20 - in open terrain, a result of 1-2 spawns an obstacle; in close terrain, 1-5; in tight terrain, 1-10. If an obstacle spawns, you may either crash into it or use your move action to make a control check to maneuver around the obstacle. You may use a move action to attempt one of the following maneuvers: * Accelerate: If the current speed of the chase is not your vehicles' maximum movement speed, you may accelerate and increase the speed of the chase by 1. Roll a DC 5 Vehicles check - each degree of success moves your position forward by 2 lengths. * Surge: Roll a DC 10 Vehicles check to increase your position without changing the speed of the chase. Each degree of success moves your position forward by 1 length. * Herd: You may shift the direction of the chase into a different terrain type - from open terrain to close terrain, from close terrain to open terrain or tight terrain, or from tight terrain to close terrain. Moving from open to close or from close to tight reduces the speed of the chase by 1. * Hold Position: You maintain your speed and bearing, providing a stable position for any passengers to act from. Make a DC 10 Vehicles check with a penalty equal to the current speed of the chase. One degree success allows passengers to attack with no penalty, three degrees gives them a +2 bonus instead. Teamwork applies to this check. You may use a standard action to attempt one of the following maneuvers: * Pursuers only: ** Cut Off: If you have a higher position than your target and are not in tight terrain, you can force the target to halt or crash into you. The target must make a control check to avoid crashing - if they succeed, they must stop, potentially ending the chase. If they fail and the chase continues, your position drops by 10 lengths. ** Crowd Finish: If you are within 5 lengths of your target, you can come up behind your target and lock your vehicles together, ending the chase by fiat. Make an opposed Vehicles check: if you succeed by 2 degrees or more, you lock your vehicles together. If you succeed by only degree, you brush into each other but don't lock, and you must both make a control check - the target making their check at a -2 penalty on top of the penalty for the current speed of the chase. If you fail, the target evades you and your position drops by 2 lengths. * Targets Only: ** Escape: If you are at least 15 lengths ahead of your nearest pursuer, you can attempt to escape through sheer speed. Roll a control check at a -2 penalty in addition to the penalty for the current speed of the chase. After your control check and potential crash has been settled, if you are still at least 15 lengths ahead and able to continue the chase, you escape and win. ** Stunt Finish: If you are not in open terrain and are at least 10 lengths ahead of your nearest pursuer, you can attempt a series of tight turns or dangerous stunts to throw off your pursuers. Make a DC 10 Vehicles check, with a penalty equal to the current speed of the chase. Then, you and each pursuer within 20 lengths must make a control check, with your pursuers suffering a -2 penalty to their check on top of the penalty for the current speed of the chase if you had 1 or 2 degrees of success on your Vehicles check and a -5 i you had 3 or more degrees of success. After all control checks and potential crashes have been settled, if you are at least 10 lengths ahead and able to continue the chase, you escape and win. * Either ** Box In: If you are within 5 lengths of your pursuer or your target, and you are not in open terrain, you can attempt to box them in and force them to a halt. Roll an opposed Vehicles check - on a success, you force them to halt, potentially ending the chase. On a failure, you fail to box them in and must make a control check. Additionally, you can use your normal actions if your vehicle allows you to (e.g. firing a gun from the back of a horse, but not from inside a spaceship) or may use an attacks that your vehicle has. You can also make a slam attack with the following rule: * Ramming Speed: If you are within 5 lengths of your pursuer or your target, you can slam into them. Make a vehicles check as an attack against their Defense. If you succeed, you and any passengers take damage equal to half the current speed of the chase, +2 if you are not in a vehicle, and your target takes damage equal to the current speed of the chase, +2 if you succeed your attack by 2 degrees of success, +5 if you succeed by 3 or more degrees. Additionally, you lose 5 lengths from your position, and your target loses 10. ===== How to Chase as a Passenger ===== If you are a passenger on vehicle that is part of a chase, you may take actions as normal if the vehicle allows you to, including using the vehicles attacks. However, you have a -2 penalty to any attack check made against other vehicles in the chase, due to not being in control of the motion of your own vehicle. === Grabbing Attention === Along with combat and various ways to directly challenge players, roleplay sections and interesting NPCs can help hook a player's attention. Not much will get a player as invested as threatening a reoccurring NPC that they like, whether it's through a villain doing so directly, a disaster endangering the area they live in, or even a disease that they need to find a cure for by seeking out some sage or ancient technology. Roleplay sections to interact with NPCs and get information about what's happening and why they should care can flesh out the world and help make the game more memorable. The other easy way to grab a player's attention, of course, is to mess with their stuff. Threatening PCs' headquarters or stealing their Devices and Equipment is a great way to force investment - just be careful not to leave the player helpless. If you take Iron Man's armor, he should still be able to contribute to the game in some way - whether through social skills, technological knowledge, or something else. A well-built character won't put the GM in that situation - where taking away a character's items leaves them useless - but before you do so you should check a character's sheet and make sure that their other useful skills are things you can spotlight in the game. == Running Interesting Combats == Combat in Mutants and Masterminds can be difficult to balance, and in some cases may feel like a slugfest - for example, if players have few options other than to simple attack the villain repeatedly. If not handled well, it can feel like a game of rocket tag - players who make use of Team Attacks can launch powerful attacks at the villain repeatedly, and if a villain is built at a PL to survive such attacks, the villain's responses can be just as overwhelming for the players. This isn't a great balance, not is it all that fun. It's important to make combat interesting - fortunately, Mutants and Masterminds offers a myriad of ways to do so. === Why Solo Villains Are Boring === Solo villains tend to go out quick in MnM due to action economy being weighted against them. While you can do a solo villain by giving them a higher PL, that tends to make combats swingy and unpredictable - rocket tag, as mentioned. If you want to do a solo villain, it's generally better to use the [https://greenronin.com/blog/2020/12/04/boom-with-a-capital-b-rapid-fire-villains/ Rapid-Fire villain rules] shared by one of MnM's lead designers. The short version of Rapid-Fire villain rules is that they can make an extra attack at PL each round, or two extra attacks at PL-2 - essentially as if they were two villains of the same PL (or one villain at PL and two at PL-2) for their attacks, but not defenses. A Rapid-Fire villain's PL is calculated as if it were 2 PLs higher than it actually is - this is factored into the Rapid-Fire checkbox in [https://thevoidwatches.github.io/ this online calculator] that I host. Another option for making solo villains more interesting, which works particularly well for extremely large villains such as giants, krakens, and similar, is to render body parts as if they were individual villains. For example, a kraken might have a central body with PL 12 defenses and PL10 AoE attacks, and constantly keep eight tentacles in play, each represented as a PL10 minion with no AoE attacks. This can also be used in a similar fashion as [https://www.critacademy.com/post/angry-gms-paragon-monsters the Angry GM's Paragon Monsters] - by having what is mechanically 2 or 3 villains be balanced as a single villain with multiple turns and multiple condition tracks, with the stage of the fight changing each time they would be defeated (e.g. the first time cracks their armor and causes the villainous lair to start collapsing, as well as taking them from two turns to one - in the second stage of the fight they're seeking to escape rather than fight back, and environmental challenges get tossed in to make things more difficult). However, be careful not to simply use this to let a villain last longer by giving them extra health bars, as this can exaggerate the slugfest tendency of overly-simple combats. === Types of Villainous Minions === In addition to solo villains, there are a number of options for using interesting side villains and minions. Here are a few of them: ==== Standard Minions ==== Generally lower PL than the PCs (PL 4, 6, or 8, depending on how dangerous they're supposed to be, is relatively standard for PL 10s). These tend to come in high-numbers and serve as cannon fodder - team tactics make them significantly more threatening, as a group of 4 PL6s with Teamwork can consistently toss out a PL11 attack through a team attack at a single target, or give a main villain a +5 to hit with Aid (or Team Attack with the main villain). ==== Lieutenants ==== These are usually identical to the standard minions in build, except that they're not Minions on a mechanical level. They tend to lead actual Minions and if you take them out, the other minions they lead will flee. If this is the case, make sure to broadcast it to the players in some way. ==== Bane Minions ==== These are mechanically minions, but have a high PL, equal to or even higher than the PCs. It makes minions who hit hard (even without being a horde using team tactics) and can't be reliably taken out with AoEs, but will still go down relatively easily. ==== Side Villains ==== Full-on villains of their own, with a reasonably-high PL (but lower than the main villain, generally). Unlike the previous examples, side villains tend to be unique characters rather than an archetype that can be copy-pasted. Sometimes you'll have multiple side villains with no main villain - for example, if the villains are a team that all works together, rather than a specific leader with helpers. ==== Summoners ==== Another important option is to have low-PL main-villains, or main villains who are mechanically Minions, with higher-PL side villains or Lieutenants. This is appropriate for Kingpin-type manipulators, summoners, robot masters, and similar archetypes - characters who aren't physical threats themselves, but who employ them. === Multiple Things to Juggle === It's also important to remember that the villain is usually going to have an objective other than 'fight the heroes' - unless you've got someone like Kraven the Hunter, the villain is trying to do a specific thing that the heroes don't want them to. Always remember what your villain's actual goal is, because their win condition is almost never 'knock out the heroes', and is instead 'steal the Macguffin and escape', 'complete the ritual', or something of that nature. Similarly, the heroes should have something they want to do other than 'fight the villain' - at the simplest level, this means that they win not by beating the villain, but by protecting the Macguffin and preventing the villain from accomplishing their own goals. The villain escaping doesn't mean that the heroes lost. Often, villains will give the heroes additional things to worry about to make it easier for themselves to focus on their actual goal. The most obvious way to do this is by putting bystanders in danger (whether by causing a disaster, taking hostages, or sending minions to directly threaten bystanders), but be creative! There are lots of ways to make the heroes decide they should worry about something else before taking on the actual villain. ==== Examples of Villainous Goals ==== * Steal a specific item and get away. * Steal as much money/nonspecific valuables as possible and get away. * Just escape. ** If this is their goal, make sure the don't have anything as simple as a teleport, and consider running as a chase scene. ==== Examples of Heroic Worries ==== == How to Build an Enemy == Building a character in Mutants and Masterminds is complicated, so surely building a villain must be even worse, right? Well, not necessarily. ==== Choosing a Power Level ==== The general guideline when comparing characters of different Power Levels is that one character of PL A is roughly equivalent to two characters of PL A-2, and four minions of PL A are roughly equivalent to one non-minion of PL A. This theoretically means that for an average party of four characters of PL10, a single PL 14 villain villain is a roughly even math, as is a single PL 12 villain with two PL 10 lieutenants, or a PL12 villain with 16 PL 8 minions. You can use [https://thevoidwatches.github.io/ this online calculator] that I host to help with this math. However, keep in mind that this is only a rough guideline meant to approximate how Power Level compares to action economy (as well as the approximate difference between a minion and a non-minion). Certain powers and tactics can greatly increase the danger of a villain. For example, a villain with Concealment is far more dangerous against a party that can't target them through it than one without it, even if their PLs are the same. Similarly, minions who make use of team attacks, covering fire, etc can be dangerous even if their PL is low ==== Building The Villain ==== The first thing to be aware of when you're creating a villain is that villains are NPCs, not heroes - they don't need to follow the guidelines that PCs do. Most notably, ''don't pay attention to PP costs.'' As NPCs, Villains have as much PP as they need. Similarly, while PCs generally want to have all their defenses and offenses capped, NPCs don't need to. It's entirely normal for a villain to have a hole in their defenses - for their Dodge to be lower than their Parry or vice versa, for example, or for them to have a low Will without a correspondingly higher Fortitude. Similarly, they don't need all their offenses to be capped. You might have a villain with a higher Defensive PL than their offenses would suggest, or vice versa, or their AoE attacks might be at PL10 even though their single-target attacks are PL12. ==== How Detailed Should the Build Be? ==== Most of what villains do works on a purely narrative level, so they don't even need to have their full character sheet built. It's not generally important to know exactly what Expertise: Magic bonus is needed to cast the city-spanning ritual that will drain life from the weak to grant the villain immortality - it's not important to know exactly what kind of Summon power they need to manage their 30-some robot minions. So, what ''does'' need to be built? If you're trying to write out the minimum necessary, it's essentially anything that's player-facing information or that might be used in opposition to a player. That might sound like a lot, but it's really just this: * Strength Score (only for villains who carry Easily Removeable items that could be disarmed, or those who use Strength instead of Dodge to resist grabs). * Defenses (all five, discounting any that they're Immune to). * Acrobatics and Athletics scores (used to escape Grabs and resist Trips). * Deception, Insight, Intimidation, (used to resist Assessment, Feint, and Demoralize - as well as to use them). * Perception bonus and any special senses (used to resist Stealth). * Stealth (only for villains who make use of it). * Vehicles (only for villains who drive vehicles, and only if a chase scene is part of the game). * Offenses ** Most villains should have a way to deal Damage and a way to fight without dealing Damage - however, that doesn't necessarily mean Afflictions or Weakens. This might be Feinting with ranks of Setup, using the Aid Action, Tripping, Grappling, etc. You need the effect, rank, and accuracy. ** Most main villains and side villains should have a way of focusing fire on a single target and a way of attacking multiple targets. Multiattack can serve both purposes, but you may also want Area effects. * Any extremely notable abilities, such as ranks of Luck, but only if the players interact with them. This makes up the minimum of everything you might need for a villain, without needing to make anything up after this. This, along with being willing to be liberal with Hero Points, is enough to run a villain without players ever realizing how little of them is built. If you're willing to make things up as you go, you can get away with even less than this - I've run villains off of no more notes than Defenses and offenses before, and I have friends who get away with just picking a PL (their strategy is that anything they're good at is rolled at PL+2, anything they're okay at is rolled at PL-2, and anything they're bad at is rolled at PL-6, with them having whatever abilities and weaknesses seem to make sense) - although I never go quite that far for anything but bog-standard minions and lieutenants. af27bbbfbaaa4755c416d6e2378e6370f6c2b626 26 25 2024-01-08T06:31:00Z AbyssWatcher 5 /* Multi-Pronged Challenges */ wikitext text/x-wiki GMing a game can be daunting. GMing for Mutants and Masterminds in particular can be downright frightening, given how complex character creation can be - and as a GM, it may feel like you need to fully flesh out every single villain and NPC who appears in a plot. In order to help new GMs, this page contains advice and guidelines for running games and building villainous characters. = Void's Advice = == Planning a Fun Game == === Outside-In Planning === When planning to run a game, it can be tempting to start with the idea of a particular small-scale scene and build up from there - you want to run a game that includes a confrontation at a waterfall, say. While this can work in some cases, it has a tendency to result in somewhat flat villains, created for the purpose of that specific scene, which can difficult to reuse. For that reason, I suggest taking an outside-in approach instead. To come up with a game, start with the villain - you can then work inwards repeatedly to create multiple plots using the same villain. Doing so should look something like this: * '''Villain Concept''' ** '''Villain's Overall Goal''' *** '''Villain's Current Objective.''' **** '''Villain's Actions''' ***** '''How the Heroes Find Out''' ***** '''How the Heroes Are Expected to React''' ****** ''Multiple possible paths'' ****** ''Each should ultimately lead to the same ending.'' ****** ''Be willing to adapt the plot if the players veer off it.'' ***** '''How the Game Ends''' ***** '''Ramnifications of the Game''' ****** ''If the heroes win'' ****** ''If the villain wins'' ****** ''Other possible endings'' An example of this structure might look like this: * Concept: a werewolf who, rather than being a feral beast, is a trained mage. ** Goal: Immortality *** Current Objective: Use a magical artifact as the centerpiece of a ritual to become immortal. **** Actions: Steal the artifact. ***** Finding Out: After the theft, the museum the artifact was in asks the heroes for help. ***** Reactions: ****** Investigate the artifact and discover what it could be used for. ****** Investigate the theft and track down the thief. ****** Lay a trap for a second theft. ******* Add a second artifact the villain also needs for them to set the trap around. ***** Ending: Confrontation with the villain as the ritual takes place. ****** Heroes win: The stolen artifact(s) are returned to the museum, the villain has a grudge against them. ******* Villain escapes: has a hideout that the heroes can potentially track him to in a sequel game. ******* Villain is captured: will be imprisoned for a while but eventually get out. ******* Villain is killed: may be contacted by another villain as a ghostly mentor. ****** Villain wins: the villain finds a new goal (likely a grudge against one or more of the heroes) to pursue. ****** Other possibilities: ******* The ritual is interrupted and has a negative effect on the surroundings. ******* One of the heroes hijacks the ritual and becomes immortal instead of the villain. By starting with different current objectives - or even with different actions or ways the heroes can discover the actions - a wide variety of games can be created around the same villain. === Designing Locations and NPCs === If you're not great at improvising characters and locations, make sure to prepare them ahead of time. The general guideline I try to go by when doing so is that any location the players might end up at should have a name, at least one piece of trivia, and at least one character associated with it. In the example mentioned above, one location would be the museum that the werewolf stole from. In addition to the name, trivia might be that the museum burned down and was rebuilt several years ago, which could mean that solving the theft is particularly important to its continued existence, as the item may have been one of the few non-replicas it contained. Meanwhile, a character to associate with it might be the museum's curator. To create an interesting character, it's generally good to have a name, at least one physical trait, and at least one personality trait. For example, the curator might be a short woman with a blonde pixie cut and a tendency to chew gum while talking to people. Both characters and locations can expand from this base - however, having that base to work from is very helpful. === Noncombat Sections === The other big thing to remember about MnM is that pure combat is boring. A game should not be just one combat and nothing else - if it is, players will feel free to blow their resources (Hero Points, Luck Points, and Extra Effort), concentrate their fire on the main villain with Team Attacks, etc. You need to throw in additional layers so that the game is more interesting. The most common ways are through investigation and skill challenges. ==== Investigation ==== Investigation is tricky, but can add to the meat of a game and help the players feel that they're learning more about the villain and the world (and learning through their own actions, rather than by having exposition be fed to them). My biggest piece of advice for investigation is to make sure that the most important information is the easiest to find - let it be found in multiple ways and locations. I also tend to abstract investigation a bit by just having people make rolls and ask for information, and then describe what they did to find it (as opposed to making them tell me what specifically they're looking at and investigating) ==== Skill Challenges ==== Skill Challenges can be summed up as: throw in various challenging situations and issues that aren't directly combat. Let people use whatever skills they want if they're relevant (or use powers to bypass a check), but not to reuse the same skill repeatedly. This is good for things like challenging environments you need to go through to get to a villain or to escape from a deathtrap (for example, making your way through a jungle that's overtaken the city because the Green Mile took over and released fast-growing plants across the tri-state area). They're are also a good way to abstract an extended stealth section - make sure that a player isn't just rolling Stealth or bypassing the challenge with Concealment, though. Include things like distracting guards away from an area, hacking into security systems, searching a room for keys, etc. When running a skill challenge, it tends to be a good idea to establish an initiative order - however, that order rarely represents entering combat time, but is just to ensure that each player has a chance to help. ===== Classic Skill Challenges ===== The standard way to run a skill challenge is to pick a DC, a certain number of total successes - 5 is common - and a number of total fails - often 3. Players need to attempt to use various skills or powers to tackle the challenge, describing how they use that skill to make progress, and must achieve that number of successes before that number of failures. If they reach the required number of successes, they win the challenge - if they reach the specified failures, they lose it. Because MnM includes degrees of successes, it's possible to have each degree of success or failure count towards the challenge rather than simple the total number of successes or failures. For this kind of challenge, double the required successes. In some cases, failure isn't an option - for example, while failing a stealth section can mean that you get caught and have to fight, but a failing a traversal section can result in a boring end to a game as you simply don't arrive. For this kind of challenge, don't have a number of total failures that results in losing the challenge - instead, each failure imposes a penalty on the PCs. The easiest penalty is to give a Bruise to the hero who failed, representing them exerting themself rather than actual combat damage, but other penalties can be appropriate as well - for example, if the skill challenge involves rescuing civilians, a failure may mean that a civilian ends up dying before they can be rescued. In cases like this, there may not even be a total number of successes to reach, but instead a total number of checks that can be made, representing civilians who can either be successfully rescued or who can die. ===== Multi-Pronged Challenges ===== Another way to run skill challenges is to set up multiple challenges that players can attempt, which can influence each other through success and failure, and have unaddressed challenges count as failures. Make sure that there are enough challenges that the players have to stretch themselves, and that there are consequence for failures that can impact the other challenges. When running skill challenges like this, I suggest having three to five sub-challenges (too many becomes too much to keep an eye on - from both sides of things), with one serving as an overall win condition, one serving as an overall lose condition, and the others making things generally more difficult when not attended to. For example, a burning building might be made up of three sub-challenges: * Rescuing trapped civilians - clearing this challenge would be a win condition. ** Success on a check to rescue civilians would obviously save people, but the DC would rise each time as there are fewer and fewer people to rescue - pick a cap on the DC at which point that challenge has been won. * Putting out the fire - this challenge simply makes things more difficult if you don't keep on top of it. ** The fire's DC would lower each time you succeed on a check to fight the fire, as it slowly goes out, but ignoring the challenge or failing against it would let the DC rise as the flames spread, and might also make it harder to fight the collapse of the building by increasing the DC of that challenge as well. ** If the DC rises too high, the fire might spread to another nearby building, adding an extra collapse challenge and rescue challenge. * Preventing the building from collapsing - failing this challenge would be a loss condition ** The building collapsing might be a timer that goes down each round, with successes on the skill challenge delaying the collapse or even reversing the timer, and failures accelerating the collapse until the building falls apart, killing any civilians still inside. ** You might consider letting this challenge be cleared by reversing the collapse timer enough. This multi-pronged approach is more difficult to design and run than the single-DC skill challenge, but can be more interesting and interactive for players, forcing them to make choices about what challenges to prioritize in addition to brainstorming how to use the skills. === Chase Scenes === Chase scenes can be handled in a variety of ways, but lets start with how ''not'' to do them. ''Don't'' run a chase scene with a grid and keep careful track of positioning and speed. Firstly it's not very interesting, and secondly that's the case because speeds in MnM are logarithmic, like other measurements - Speed 5 is twice as fast as Speed 4, which means that catching up to anyone slower than you is trivial and escaping anyone faster is impossible. Instead, consider one of the following methods: ==== Simple Skill Chase ==== Best suited for ad-hoc chases, a simple skill chase is a sort of simplified skill challenge that works whenever one person is chasing another. Both parties will make three opposed checks which represents aspects of a chase, and whoever wins the majority catches up to the other. The three checks are: * Athletics, representing your ability to push yourself and move at high speed. ** Characters with a greater movement speed than their opponent have a +2 to this check, +5 if they have 2 or more ranks past their opponent. If a character has 3 or more ranks of movement speed on their opponent, they win this check automatically. * Stamina, representing your ability to keep up the chase and continue pushing yourself. ** Great Endurance applies to this check, and characters with Immunity to Fatigue effects automatically win it unless their opponent also has Immunity to Fatigue - if so, flip a coin. For characters with half immunity to Fatigue, give a +5 bonus, stacking with Great Endurance. * Acrobatics, representing your ability to maneuver in tight spaces and actually catch your opponent at the end of a chase. ** Characters with no ranks in Acrobatics may roll with their Agility, at a -2 penalty. You may wish to have the opponent not roll (instead simply taking 10 on each challenge) to provide the hero a less variable target. ==== Full Skill Chase ==== A slightly more complex chase scene can be done as a more standard skill challenge. Give the fleeing character a counter representing their lead when the chase starts, often 3 or 5. The pursuer and escapee then take turns making checks opposed by the other - opposed athletics checks, attack rolls to slow their opponent, or anything else appropriate. Any degrees of success by the escapee are added to their counter - any degrees of success by the pursuer are subtracted from it. If the counter reaches 0, the chasing character wins the chase - if it reaches a specified higher number (often 7 or 10), the fleeing character escapes. ==== Mousetrap Chase ==== A third-party book called [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mh6qhX2brOcbKleUNJDXYjTvMQYvVOdp/view?usp=share_link Better Mousetrap] offers a complex set of rules they call Hot Pursuit. The following is a somewhat simplified adaptation - and yes, this ''is'' simpler despite the complexity of them. This set of rules is best used when the chase scene is the primary scene of the entire game. For those on foot or otherwise moving under their own power, replace calls for Vehicles checks with Athletics checks - for living mounts instead of vehicles, use Expertise: Riding. ===== Terminology ===== Each person involved with a chase has a counter called their ''position'', measured in ''lengths'' - each length is an abstract unit that is generally equal to the current speed of the chase. Your starting position as a pursuer is equal to your Vehicles score - your starting position as a target is equal to your Vehicles score +10. The chase as a whole has ''terrain'', which can be either open, close, or tight. Open terrain has few obstacles (e.g. an open plain or highway), close terrain is narrow and has things that you can bump into (e.g. city streets or twisting mountain roads), and tight terrain is constantly filled with obstacles and dangers (e.g. a cinematic asteroid field or busy street). The chase also has a ''current'' ''speed'', which represents the average speed of the participants in the chase. Each round that you're in a chase with a higher speed than you are capable of, your position drops. At times you may be called to make a control check to maneuver your vehicle or prevent a crash. A control check is a DC 15 Vehicles check made with a penalty equal to the current speed of the chase - additionally, open terrain gives a +2 bonus, and tight terrain gives a -2. If you fail the check, you crash, and both your vehicle and any passengers take damage equal to the current speed of the chase, +5 if you aren't in a vehicle. A crash reduces your position by 5 lengths, but you don't lose the chase unless you are knocked out or your vehicle is destroyed. ===== How to Chase as a Driver ===== At the beginning of each turn, you may have to deal with an obstacle. Roll a d20 - in open terrain, a result of 1-2 spawns an obstacle; in close terrain, 1-5; in tight terrain, 1-10. If an obstacle spawns, you may either crash into it or use your move action to make a control check to maneuver around the obstacle. You may use a move action to attempt one of the following maneuvers: * Accelerate: If the current speed of the chase is not your vehicles' maximum movement speed, you may accelerate and increase the speed of the chase by 1. Roll a DC 5 Vehicles check - each degree of success moves your position forward by 2 lengths, in addition to increasing the chase's current speed. * Surge: Roll a DC 10 Vehicles check to increase your position ''without'' changing the speed of the chase. Each degree of success moves your position forward by 1 length. * Herd: You may shift the direction of the chase into a different terrain type - from open terrain to close terrain, from close terrain to open terrain or tight terrain, from tight terrain to close terrain, or in the opposite direction. Moving from open to close or from close to tight reduces the speed of the chase by 1, while moving in the opposite direction increases it by 1. * Hold Position: You maintain your speed and bearing, providing a stable position for any passengers to act from. Make a DC 10 Vehicles check with a penalty equal to the current speed of the chase. One degree of success allows passengers to attack with no penalty, three degrees gives them a +2 bonus instead. Teamwork applies to this check. You may use a standard action to attempt one of the following maneuvers: * Pursuers only: ** Cut Off: If you have a higher position than your target and are not in tight terrain, you can force the target to halt or crash into you. The target must make a control check to avoid crashing - if they succeed, they must stop, potentially ending the chase. If they fail and the chase continues, your position drops by 10 lengths. ** Crowd Finish: If you are within 5 lengths of your target, you can come up behind your target and lock your vehicles together, ending the chase by fiat. Make an opposed Vehicles check: if you succeed by 2 degrees or more, you lock your vehicles together. If you succeed by only one degree, you brush into each other but don't lock, and you must both make a control check - the target making their check at a -2 penalty on top of the penalty for the current speed of the chase. If you fail, the target evades you and your position drops by 2 lengths. * Targets Only: ** Escape: If you are at least 15 lengths ahead of your nearest pursuer, you can attempt to escape through sheer speed. Roll a control check at a -2 penalty in addition to the penalty for the current speed of the chase. After your control check and potential crash has been settled, if you are still at least 15 lengths ahead and able to continue the chase, you escape and win. ** Stunt Finish: If you are not in open terrain and are at least 10 lengths ahead of your nearest pursuer, you can attempt a series of tight turns or dangerous stunts to throw off your pursuers. Make a DC 10 Vehicles check, with a penalty equal to the current speed of the chase. Then, you and each pursuer within 20 lengths must make a control check, with your pursuers suffering a -2 penalty to their check on top of the penalty for the current speed of the chase if you had 1 or 2 degrees of success on your Vehicles check and a -5 i you had 3 or more degrees of success. After all control checks and potential crashes have been settled, if you are at least 10 lengths ahead and able to continue the chase, you escape and win. * Either ** Box In: If you are within 5 lengths of your pursuer or your target, and you are not in open terrain, you can attempt to box them in and force them to a halt. Roll an opposed Vehicles check - on a success, you force them to halt, potentially ending the chase. On a failure, you fail to box them in and must make a control check. Doing this as a pursuer ends the chase - doing this as a target reduces your pursuer's position by 5 lengths. Additionally, you can use your normal actions if your vehicle allows you to (e.g. firing a gun from the back of a horse, but not from inside a spaceship) or may use an attacks that your vehicle has. You can also make a slam attack with the following rule: * Ramming Speed: If you are within 5 lengths of your pursuer or your target, you can slam into them. Make a vehicles check as an attack against their Defense. If you succeed, you and any passengers take damage equal to half the current speed of the chase, +2 if you are not in a vehicle, and your target takes damage equal to the current speed of the chase, +2 if you succeed your attack by 2 degrees of success, +5 if you succeed by 3 or more degrees. Additionally, you lose 5 lengths from your position, and your target loses 10 lengths. ===== How to Chase as a Passenger ===== If you are a passenger on vehicle that is part of a chase, you may take actions as normal if the vehicle allows you to, including using the vehicles attacks. However, you have a -2 penalty to any attack check made against other vehicles in the chase, due to not being in control of the motion of your own vehicle. === Grabbing Attention === Along with combat and various ways to directly challenge players, roleplay sections and interesting NPCs can help hook a player's attention. Not much will get a player as invested as threatening a reoccurring NPC that they like, whether it's through a villain doing so directly, a disaster endangering the area they live in, or even a disease that they need to find a cure for by seeking out some sage or ancient technology. Roleplay sections to interact with NPCs and get information about what's happening and why they should care can flesh out the world and help make the game more memorable. The other easy way to grab a player's attention, of course, is to mess with their stuff. Threatening PCs' headquarters or stealing their Devices and Equipment is a great way to force investment - just be careful not to leave the player helpless. If you take Iron Man's armor, he should still be able to contribute to the game in some way - whether through social skills, technological knowledge, or something else. A well-built character won't put the GM in that situation - where taking away a character's items leaves them useless - but before you do so you should check a character's sheet and make sure that their other useful skills are things you can spotlight in the game. == Running Interesting Combats == Combat in Mutants and Masterminds can be difficult to balance, and in some cases may feel like a slugfest - for example, if players have few options other than to simple attack the villain repeatedly. If not handled well, it can feel like a game of rocket tag - players who make use of Team Attacks can launch powerful attacks at the villain repeatedly, and if a villain is built at a PL to survive such attacks, the villain's responses can be just as overwhelming for the players. This isn't a great balance, not is it all that fun. It's important to make combat interesting - fortunately, Mutants and Masterminds offers a myriad of ways to do so. === Why Solo Villains Are Boring === Solo villains tend to go out quick in MnM due to action economy being weighted against them. While you can do a solo villain by giving them a higher PL, that tends to make combats swingy and unpredictable - rocket tag, as mentioned. If you want to do a solo villain, it's generally better to use the [https://greenronin.com/blog/2020/12/04/boom-with-a-capital-b-rapid-fire-villains/ Rapid-Fire villain rules] shared by one of MnM's lead designers. The short version of Rapid-Fire villain rules is that they can make an extra attack at PL each round, or two extra attacks at PL-2 - essentially as if they were two villains of the same PL (or one villain at PL and two at PL-2) for their attacks, but not defenses. A Rapid-Fire villain's PL is calculated as if it were 2 PLs higher than it actually is - this is factored into the Rapid-Fire checkbox in [https://thevoidwatches.github.io/ this online calculator] that I host. Another option for making solo villains more interesting, which works particularly well for extremely large villains such as giants, krakens, and similar, is to render body parts as if they were individual villains. For example, a kraken might have a central body with PL 12 defenses and PL10 AoE attacks, and constantly keep eight tentacles in play, each represented as a PL10 minion with no AoE attacks. This can also be used in a similar fashion as [https://www.critacademy.com/post/angry-gms-paragon-monsters the Angry GM's Paragon Monsters] - by having what is mechanically 2 or 3 villains be balanced as a single villain with multiple turns and multiple condition tracks, with the stage of the fight changing each time they would be defeated (e.g. the first time cracks their armor and causes the villainous lair to start collapsing, as well as taking them from two turns to one - in the second stage of the fight they're seeking to escape rather than fight back, and environmental challenges get tossed in to make things more difficult). However, be careful not to simply use this to let a villain last longer by giving them extra health bars, as this can exaggerate the slugfest tendency of overly-simple combats. === Types of Villainous Minions === In addition to solo villains, there are a number of options for using interesting side villains and minions. Here are a few of them: ==== Standard Minions ==== Generally lower PL than the PCs (PL 4 or 6, depending on how dangerous they're supposed to be, is relatively standard for PL 10s). These tend to come in high-numbers and serve as cannon fodder - team tactics make them significantly more threatening, as a group of 4 PL6s with Teamwork can consistently toss out a PL11 attack through a team attack at a single target, or give a main villain a +5 to hit with Aid (or Team Attack with the main villain). ==== Lieutenants ==== These are usually identical to the standard minions in build, except that they're not Minions on a mechanical level - sometimes they're slightly higher PL (PL8 instead of PL6, for example), but with little-to-no extra abilities other than their increased numbers. They tend to lead actual Minions and if you take them out, the other minions they lead will flee. If this is the case, make sure to broadcast it to the players in some way. ==== Bane Minions ==== These are mechanically minions, but have a high PL, equal to or even higher than the PCs. It makes minions who hit hard (even without being a horde using team tactics) and can't be reliably taken out with AoEs, but will still go down relatively easily. ==== Side Villains ==== Full-on villains of their own, with a reasonably-high PL (but lower than the main villain, generally). Unlike the previous examples, side villains tend to be unique characters rather than an archetype that can be copy-pasted. Sometimes you'll have multiple side villains with no main villain - for example, if the villains are a team that all works together, rather than a specific leader with helpers. ==== Summoners ==== Another important option is to have low-PL main-villains, or main villains who are mechanically Minions, with higher-PL side villains or Lieutenants. This is appropriate for Kingpin-type manipulators, summoners, robot masters, and similar archetypes - characters who aren't physical threats themselves, but who employ them. === How to Run Large Numbers of Enemies === It can be daunting to try to run extremely large combats with dozens or more minions. There are two useful ways to reduce this, however. ==== Forces ==== The Gamemaster's Guide includes rules for Forces, which are large groups of weak enemies that are mechanically modeled as a single foe. Forces work a little differently than standard characters in order to preserve the feeling that they're a large group - for example, a force is particularly weak to area effects. Running a group of several Forces rather than a horde of dozens of minions can give the feeling of a horde battle without having to manage dozens of turns. ==== Squads ==== The other simple way of handling it is to put minions in groups of 4, a squad that works closely together. Each squad consists of a leader and three assisting minions - one using Aid to increase the attack roll of the leader, one using Aid to increase the active Defenses of the leader, and one using Team Attack to increase the attack rank of the leader. Essentially, a squad of 4 PL 6 minions functions like a single PL 8 minion, with a different - each time you strike the squad, you pick one of the 3 assisting minions to knock out, weakening the squad. Often this comes with a houserule that Takedown can only strike members of a single squad (but still potentially lets the entire squad be taken down in one turn), sometimes applying this to AoEs as well (preventing the AoE from being used on multiple squads, but potentially knocking out the entire squad on a failure). === Multiple Things to Juggle === It's also important to remember that the villain is usually going to have an objective other than 'fight the heroes' - unless you've got someone like Kraven the Hunter, the villain is trying to do a specific thing that the heroes don't want them to. Always remember what your villain's actual goal is, because their win condition is almost never 'knock out the heroes', and is instead 'steal the Macguffin and escape', 'complete the ritual', or something of that nature. Similarly, the heroes should have something they want to do other than 'fight the villain' - at the simplest level, this means that they win not by beating the villain, but by protecting the Macguffin and preventing the villain from accomplishing their own goals. The villain escaping doesn't mean that the heroes lost. Often, villains will give the heroes additional things to worry about to make it easier for themselves to focus on their actual goal. The most obvious way to do this is by putting bystanders in danger (whether by causing a disaster, taking hostages, or sending minions to directly threaten bystanders), but be creative! There are lots of ways to make the heroes decide they should worry about something else before taking on the actual villain. ==== Examples of Villainous Goals ==== * Steal a specific item and get away. * Steal as much money/nonspecific valuables as possible and get away. * Just escape. ** If this is their goal, make sure they don't have anything as simple as a teleport, and consider running as a chase scene. ==== Examples of Heroic Worries ==== * Keep the villain from stealing a specific item. * Protect civilians from being hurt or kidnapped. * Prevent the villain from completing a ritual. == How to Build an Enemy == Building a character in Mutants and Masterminds is complicated, so surely building a villain must be even worse, right? Well, not necessarily. ==== Choosing a Power Level ==== The general guideline when comparing characters of different Power Levels is that two characters of PL A are roughly equivalent to one characters of PL A + 2, and four minions of PL A are roughly equivalent to one non-minion of PL A. This theoretically means that for an average party of four characters of PL10, a single PL 14 villain villain is a roughly even match, as is a single PL 12 villain with two PL 10 lieutenants, or a PL12 villain with 16 PL 8 minions. You can use [https://thevoidwatches.github.io/ this online calculator] that I host to help with this math. However, keep in mind that this is only a rough guideline, meant to approximate how Power Level compares to action economy (as well as the approximate difference between a minion and a non-minion). Certain powers and tactics can greatly increase the danger of a villain. For example, a villain with Concealment is far more dangerous against a party that can't target them through it than one without it, even if their PLs are the same. Similarly, minions who make good use of team attacks, covering fire, etc can be dangerous even if their PL is low ==== Building The Villain ==== The first thing to be aware of when you're creating a villain is that villains are NPCs, not heroes - they don't need to follow the guidelines that PCs do. Most notably, ''don't pay attention to PP costs.'' As NPCs, Villains have as much PP as they need. Similarly, while PCs generally want to have all their defenses and offenses capped, NPCs don't need to. It's entirely normal for a villain to have a hole in their defenses - for their Dodge to be lower than their Parry or vice versa, for example, or for them to have a low Will without a correspondingly higher Fortitude. Similarly, they don't need all their offenses to be capped. You might have a villain with a higher Defensive PL than their offenses would suggest, or vice versa, or their AoE attacks might be at PL10 even though their single-target attacks are PL12. ==== How Detailed Should the Build Be? ==== Most of what villains do works on a purely narrative level, so they don't even need to have their full character sheet built. It's not generally important to know exactly what Expertise: Magic bonus is needed to cast the city-spanning ritual that will drain life from the weak to grant the villain immortality - it's not important to know exactly what kind of Summon power they need to manage their 30-some robot minions. So, what ''does'' need to be built? If you're trying to write out the minimum necessary, it's essentially anything that's player-facing information or that might be used in opposition to a player. That might sound like a lot, but it's really just this: * Strength Score (only for villains who carry Easily Removeable items that could be disarmed, or those who use Strength instead of Dodge to resist grabs). * Defenses (all five, discounting any that they're Immune to). * Acrobatics and Athletics scores (used to escape Grabs and resist Trips). * Deception, Insight, Intimidation, (used to resist Assessment, Feint, and Demoralize - as well as to use them). * Perception bonus and any special senses (used to resist Stealth). * Stealth (only for villains who make use of it). * Vehicles (only for villains who drive vehicles, and only if a chase scene is part of the game). * Offenses ** Most villains should have a way to deal Damage and a way to fight without dealing Damage - however, that doesn't necessarily mean Afflictions or Weakens. This might be Feinting with ranks of Setup, using the Aid Action, Tripping, Grappling, etc. You need the effect, rank, and accuracy. ** Most main villains and side villains should have a way of focusing fire on a single target and a way of attacking multiple targets. Multiattack can serve both purposes, but you may also want Area effects. * Any extremely notable abilities, such as ranks of Luck, but only if the players interact with them. This makes up the minimum of everything you might need for a villain, without needing to make anything up after this. This, along with being willing to be liberal with Hero Points, is enough to run a villain without players ever realizing how little of them is built. If you're willing to make things up as you go, you can get away with even less than this - I've run villains off of no more notes than Defenses and offenses before, and I have friends who get away with just picking a PL (their strategy is that anything they're good at is rolled at PL+2, anything they're okay at is rolled at PL-2, and anything they're bad at is rolled at PL-6, with them having whatever abilities and weaknesses seem to make sense) - although I never go quite that far for anything but bog-standard minions and lieutenants. c4fbe64e4d5238568de4b54c348ca11e3af98ad8 6 16 27 2024-01-08T14:23:15Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709 0 17 30 2024-01-08T17:20:26Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with "<blockquote>This walkthrough is designed to be read in order, explaining concepts and system aspects as they become important. On occasion, a concept will be mentioned before it is fully explained - when this happens, it will be <u>underlined</u> to reassure you that the explanation will come in time. Information inset like this is optional - examples or expository notes that provide additional context or answer common questions, but aren't necessary to understand the s..." wikitext text/x-wiki <blockquote>This walkthrough is designed to be read in order, explaining concepts and system aspects as they become important. On occasion, a concept will be mentioned before it is fully explained - when this happens, it will be <u>underlined</u> to reassure you that the explanation will come in time. Information inset like this is optional - examples or expository notes that provide additional context or answer common questions, but aren't necessary to understand the system. As this is a basic walkthrough, it will not address all parts of the system, but instead link to the [https://www.d20herosrd.com/ free online SRD] for full detauls where appropriate.</blockquote> == Basic Concepts == === d20 System === MnM is a dedicated d20 system, meaning that all conflict resolution is accomplished using a twenty-sided die (rather than dice with other numbers of sides, like some systems use for damage, or with multiple dice rolled to determine successes). Any time you roll for something, you will roll a d20 and add any relevant bonuses you may have, then compare it to a DC set by the GM. Sometimes the GM will similarly roll against a DC set by your own character's traits, and sometimes you'll even roll against another person who is also rolling. In the case of opposed dice rolls, ties are broken by the higher bonus, with a second roll-off when the bonuses are equal. Otherwise, the roller wins a tie against a static DC.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Robin is trying to run across a rooftop to grab a child before they trip and fall, but doesn't have the speed to get there in time. He attempts a DC 15 <u>Athletics</u> check to temporarily increase his movement speed, by rolling a d20 and adding his <u>Athletics</u> skill of 8. He gets a 9 on the die, +8, for a total of 17 - this means he successfully increases his speed, and rescues the child. '''EXAMPLE''' Later the same night, Robin attempts to sneak past Alfred to get into Wayne Manor without anyone noticing he was out on his own. He attempts an opposed roll of his <u>Stealth</u> vs Alfred's <u>Perception</u>, rolling d20+10 against Alfred's d20+6. Alfred rolls a 13+6 for a total of 19, which loses to Robin's result of a 12+10,totaling 22. '''EXAMPLE''' He still needs to make it past Batman, however. Once again, they roll <u>Stealth</u> vs <u>Perception</u>, and Robin rolls an 8+10, while Batman rolls 6+12. Both results total to 18, but Batman has a higher bonus, a +12 vs a +10, so Batman spots him. '''EXAMPLE''' Robin tries to argue that he shouldn't be punished by telling him about the child he saved from falling, but the GM controlling Batman tells him that he needs to roll against Batman's <u>Will</u> in order to persuade him. They both roll d20+10, Robin's <u>Persuasion</u> and Batman's <u>Will</u>, and both get a total of 15+10, for 25. Because their bonuses are the same, they roll again to determine the result, and this time Robin loses with a result of 14 to Batman's 21, and is sent to bed without being allowed to join him on patrol that night.</blockquote> === Degrees of Success and Failure === Often, the exact outcome of a roll depends not just on whether or not you beat a DC or fail to, but ''how much'' you succeed or fail. Meeting the DC exactly is 1 degree of success - for every 5 above the DC you roll, you achieve an extra degree of success. On the other hand, every 5 ''below'' the DC you roll is an extra degree of failure.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Investigating a robbery, Batman rolls an <u>Investigation</u> check against a DC of 15. He gets a total of 25, which is three degrees of success. Because of his extra degrees of success, the GM gives him not just the DC 15 evidence that the Mad Hatter was responsible, but also allows him to find a receipt for a hotel where the Hatter is staying. '''EXAMPLE''' While fighting against the Mad Hatter, he manages to put a hat on Batman's head and force him to roll his <u>Will</u> against a mind controlling effect. Batman rolls an 18 against a DC of 20, which is 1 degree of failure. As such, he is <u>Entranced</u>, preventing him from taking actions until hostile action snaps him out of it. '''EXAMPLE''' With Batman momentarily out of the picture, the Hatter puts a hat on Robin's head. Robin rolls worse, getting only a 14 against the DC of 20, which is 2 degrees of failure. Rather than being <u>Entranced</u>, he is <u>Compelled</u>, allowing the Hatter to control his actions.</blockquote>Not all checks involve degrees of failure or success, and in many cases extra degrees only matter in one direction (that is, extra degrees of success give bonuses but extra degrees of failure give no additional penalty, or vice versa). === Classless Point-Buy === Unlike systems like ''Dungeons and Dragons'' or ''Powered By the Apocalypse'', ''Mutants and Masterminds'' doesn't have classes - there are no premade paths to build a character along. While there are archetypes which can be found in the books (such as Powerhouse, Energy Controller, and so on), these are examples of possible ways to build a character, and should not be considered the only or even the best ways to do so. Instead, MnM uses a single large pool of points, called Power Points, that are spent to give your character traits. All parts of your character that cost points are drawn from the same pool - thus, you can build characters in a variety of ways by spending more or less points in different places. An important point to understand how these points are spent is the idea of ranks. When buying any part of your character, you purchase them as ranks - 3 ranks of <u>Strength</u>, 2 ranks of <u>Flight</u>, etc. Each trait costs a certain number of power points per rank, although in some cases this can be modified. === Power Level === While many systems have levels, with characters growing in power as they gain levels, MnM doesn't quite follow this model. Each character has a Power Level, but while Power Level is in some ways similar to levels in other systems, it's very different in others. Most notably, it's not generally expected that characters will grow in Power Level over time. Mechanically speaking, Power Level essentially serves as a balancing mechanism on the combat prowess of a character. Many parts of characters are limited based on Power Level, such that two characters of the same Power Level will be able to played alongside each other without either feeling like they aren't contributing, even if one has the power to move mountains and the other has the power to blow bubbles.<blockquote>Note, however, that this doesn't make it impossible to mix power levels. The most commonly-used balancing for allowing characters of different Power Levels to play together is to allow the lower-PL characters to begin with extra <u>Hero Points</u>, one extra for each PL below the highest-PL character. Sometimes this is instead accomplished by picking a specific Power Level for a campaign or game, with players being able to play any power level up to one above the chosen PL - those below that PL get extra <u>Hero Points</u>, while characters one above that PL start with 0 <u>Hero Points</u> instead of the normal one.</blockquote>Conceptually, Power Level can be considered to represent how broad the impact of a hero is on the world. Street-level heroes like Daredevil who might team up to fight city-level threats are most often considered to be PL8, while characters who can handle city-level threats on their own but team up to fight world-level threats, like the Flash, are usually put at PL10. Meanwhile, characters who can protect an entire world on their own and work together to deal with cosmic level threats, like Superman and Green Lantern, are typically built at PL12.<blockquote>The game is mostly balanced around Power Level 10. While other power levels also work, balancing the game becomes trickier the farther you go from PL10. PL8 and PL12 are the most common picks for stronger and weaker characters because going above or below that range is where the system's balance starts to noticeably break down, but 2 PLs is enough to see a noticeably difference in power and ability.</blockquote>One of the most notable things that Power Level does is set how many Power Points a character begins play with. By default, characters being play with 15 power points times their Power Level - therefore, a PL10 character starts with 150PP, and a PL8 with 120. However, some campaigns give more or less Power Points than the default. For example, Knights of Ironport gives all heroes 150pp at creation regardless of Power Level, while Haven City Heroes gives characters an extra 1pp to begin with (with a restriction on what the PP is used to buy). === Progression === While character levels generally don't change PL, they still advance over the course of a game. Advancement is done by gaining additional power points, which can be spent on parts of your character in the same way as they're spent during creation - thus, characters don't tend to grow more powerful over time, but rather more versatile, acquiring more options and increasing non-PL-limited traits. === Limited Resource Management === Many tabletop systems are balanced around resource management - you have powerful options like high-level spells which can be used a limited number of times, middling-strength options that can be used more often, and weak options that can be used without limit. MnM, however, assumes that you can use your <u>Powers</u> and other abilities freely, without limit. Although there are ways to simulate the resource management of other systems in some ways, they rarely feel quite the same. Even ammunition is handled narratively - a character like the Punisher has infinite ammo, until the GM uses a <u>Complication</u> to declare that he's run out. That said, there are still a few resources that ''do'' need to be managed. ==== Extra Effort and Fatigue ==== As a free action on your turn, a character may use Extra Effort for a variety of purposes - most notably, it can be used to gain an extra <u>Standard Action</u>, to temporarily increase the rank of a power by 1, or to gain a +2 circumstance bonus on a check (or upgrade an existing +2 circumstance bonus to a +5). However, doing so gives you a level of fatigue. In MnM, the fatigue track goes as follows: <u>Fatigued</u>, <u>Exhausted</u>, <u>Incapacitated</u>. Using Extra Effort while Fatigued will result in becoming <u>Exhausted</u>, and doing so while <u>Exhausted</u> will incapacitate you. While <u>Fatigued</u> is a low-impact <u>Condition,</u> <u>Exhausted</u> is much more impactful, so fatigue is a resource to keep track of and spend carefully.<blockquote>Some characters have immunity to Fatigue effects, whether through the <u>Immunity</u> <u>Power</u> or through having <u>Absent Stamina</u>. Most games (although not all) make allowance for these characters to still be able to use Extra Effort - whether by simply giving them Fatigue despite their immunity, or by moving them along a track of <u>Impaired</u>, <u>Disabled</u>, <u>Incapacitated</u> instead of the normal fatigue track.</blockquote> ==== Hero Points ==== Also called [https://www.d20herosrd.com/home/victory-points/ Victory Points], Hero Points can be used for a variety of purposes - most notably, you can spend them to reduce fatigue (essentially allowing a free use of Extra Effort), to reroll a failed check (adding 10 if the number rolled on the die is less than 11), or to get a hint from the GM about a situation. Additionally, some <u>Advantages</u> are fueled by spending a Hero Point. A subset of Hero Points are Luck Points. Luck is an <u>Advantage</u> that can be purchased, with each Luck point allowing you to use one specific use of a Hero Point (chosen when you purchase the rank of Luck). For example, you might buy 3 ranks of Luck: Reroll and 1 rank of Luck: Recovery, to allow you to reroll a failed check three times and reduce fatigue once. Note that you can only have a limited number of ranks of Luck. The limit varies depending on play group, but the most common limits are no more total ranks than your PL, no more ranks of any specific usage than PL/2, a combination of the first two limits, or no more total ranks than your PL/2. Many groups also further limit Luck: Recovery, requiring no more than a single rank of it or banning it entirely - another commonly limited use is Luck: <u>Inspire</u>.<blockquote>Note that the default rules only allow Luck: Reroll. Another book, ''Power Profiles,'' suggests Expanded Luck to allow purchases Luck ranks for other uses of Hero Points - however, as this is only an option, not all groups allow it.</blockquote>Both Hero Points and Luck Points are refreshed at the start of an adventure (not necessarily synonymous with the start of a session) - you start with 1 Hero Point and the number of Luck Points you purchased, unless the GM says otherwise. Additional Hero Points can be earned from <u>Complications</u>, but Luck Points, once spent, are gone until the next adventure. == Parts of a Character == === [https://www.d20herosrd.com/character-creation/3-abilities/ Abilities] === The Abilities are 8 basic measurements of a characters physical and mental abilities. While some things are directly based on one of your Abilities, most parts of the system are a step removed - for example, your bonus in any given <u>Skill</u> is equal to one of your Abilities plus the skill ranks invested into that skill, and <u>Defenses</u> are similarly based on an Ability. For this reason, Abilities can generally be considered to be a sort of flavorful package of other parts of the system.<blockquote>Note that not all abilities are exactly equal in price to the benefits they give. Stamina and Awareness are both worth exactly what they cost - Strength is worth slightly more. The others all cost slightly more than one you get, unless you spend additional points to give them additional uses, which can turn them into discounts. The most egregious examples of this, in most people's estimation, are Dexterity, Intellect, and Presence - however, do note that in all three cases, a character with significant investment into the ability gets a notable discount on price.</blockquote>There are 8 Abilities - Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, Agility, Fighting, Awareness, Intellect, and Presence - which each represent a different part of your character. Generally speaking, a 0 in any Ability is the human average, and peak human is somewhere between 5 and 8 depending on the setting and group you play with.<blockquote>'''Strength''' represents sheer physical force. Your ability to lift and move objects comes from Strength - you can lift, carry, or throw an amount of mass equal to your Strength rank on the [https://www.d20herosrd.com/home/ranks-and-measures/ Ranks and Measures] table, the <u>Damage</u> of Unarmed attacks is equal to your Strength, and your <u>Athletics</u> <u>Skill</u> is based on Strength as well. '''Stamina''' represents health and physical vitality. It contributes directly to your <u>Fortitude</u> and <u>Toughness</u> <u>Defenses</u>. '''Dexterity''' represents how skillful you are with your hands. It contributes to your accuracy with ranged attacks and your Sleight of Hand, as well as how good you are at catching a falling person or object. '''Agility''' represents how skilled you are at moving your entire body quickly and gracefully. It contributes to your <u>Dodge</u> <u>Defense</u>, your <u>Stealth</u> <u>Skill</u>, and your <u>Acrobatics</u> <u>Skill</u>. '''Fighting''' represents your skill at close combat. It contributes to your accuracy with melee attacks and to your <u>Parry</u> <u>Defense</u>. '''Awareness''' represents how perceptive and insightful you are about both yourself and the world, and is sometimes considered to represent wisdom and common sense as well. It contributes to your <u>Will</u> <u>Defense</u>, your <u>Perception</u> <u>Skill</u>, and your <u>Insight</u> <u>Skill</u>. '''Intellect''' represents your intelligence and general knowledge. It contributes to the <u>Investigation</u>, <u>Technology</u>, and <u>Treatment</u> <u>Skills</u>, and is also the default Ability for <u>Expertise</u> <u>Skills</u>. '''Presence''' represents your sheer force of personality and skill at expressing yourself. It contributes to the <u>Deception</u>, <u>Intimidation</u>, and <u>Persuasion</u> <u>Skills</u>.</blockquote>Abilities cost 2pp for each rank, and can be reduced below 0 to earn extra power points.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Having a Strength of 10 costs 20pp, and gives you a +10 base <u>Athletics</u>, a <u>Damage</u> of 10 with unarmed attacks, and lets you lift 25 tons without exerting yourself. '''EXAMPLE''' Having an Awareness of -1 gives you 2pp to spend elsewhere, and means that you have a -1 <u>Perception</u> and <u>Insight</u>.</blockquote> ==== Absent Abilities ==== Not every character has all 8 Abilities. Some are missing one or more - most commonly, undead and robotic characters are often built with Absent Stamina. The exact effects of having an absent Ability varies depending on the Ability in question. === [https://www.d20herosrd.com/character-creation../3-abilities/#DODGE Defenses] === The Defenses are the way your character resists hostile effects of any sort, from fireballs to mind control to the vacuum of space. Each Defense has a base value equal to one of your Abilities, and can be raised from there for 1pp/rank (with the exception of <u>Toughness</u>), and each represents a different way for your character to resist attacks. Defenses are generally used in one of three ways. They can set a DC for an attacker to roll against, they can be rolled as a <u>Resistance Check</u>, or they can be rolled as an <u>Overcome Check</u>.<blockquote>'''Dodge''' is your ability to avoid being hit by ranged attacks and area effects. Anyone making a ranged attack against you must make an attack roll with a DC equal to 10 plus your Dodge, while the rank of an area effect can be reduced by rolling d20+Dodge against 10 plus the rank of the effect. Most area effects have their ranks cut in half prior to the actual <u>resistance check</u> if you pass this check, but a few have no effect at all if you pass the Dodge check. Additionally, Dodge is sometimes used as a <u>resistance check</u> against effects that bind you in place, like grappling or being frozen in place. '''Parry''' is your ability to block or avoid melee attacks. Anyone making a melee attack against you must make an attack roll with a DC equal to 10 plus your Parry. '''Toughness''' is the closest thing to health that the system has - it's used to resist normal Damage after you've been hit. After taking Damage, you must roll Toughness with a DC of 15 plus the rank of the Damage. If you fail the check, you take a stacking -1 penalty to future checks against Damage (also known as a Bruise), and failing by 2 or more degrees has additional penalties. Two degrees of failure will also leave you <u>Dazed</u> for a round, three degrees will leave you <u>Staggered</u>, and failing by four degrees will leave you <u>Incapacitated</u>. '''Fortitude''' is used to resist effects like poison, extreme cold, and electrical shocks. After someone successfully hits you by meeting the DC set by your Dodge or Parry, or after resolving a Dodge check against an AoE, you may be called to roll a Fortitude check against an effect. '''Will''' is used to resist effects like mind control, as well as serving as the default save for 'esoteric' effects like being frozen in time that have no clear resistance among the other Defenses. It's also often used to resist sensory effects, although some sensory effects target Fortitude instead.</blockquote>As mentioned, Toughness cannot be directly raised for 1pp/rank. However, it can be raised through the <u>Defensive Roll</u> <u>Advantage</u> or the <u>Protection</u> <u>Power</u>, both costing 1pp/rank. ==== PL Limits ==== The Defenses are the first place where the PL limits that serve to balance a character's combat traits come into play. Each Defense is paired up against one of the other Defenses, and each pair must not add together to be greater than the character's PL * 2 - however, an individual Defense can be higher than that character's PL as long as the paired defense is lower. The pairings are Dodge and Toughness, Parry and Toughness, and Fortitude and Will. This is essentially designed so that characters who are particularly hard to hurt due to high Toughness must equally be easier to hit, while characters who are harder to hit are easier to hurt when an attack lands, keeping them on roughly an even keel - similarly, characters can't be both particularly good at resisting mental effects and particularly good at resisting physical effects.<blockquote>A common question is why Dodge and Parry are both paired with Toughness, making it more expensive to have a character who is harder to hit than a character who is harder to hurt. This is essentially due to avoiding attacks entirely being more valuable, particularly given that effects resisted by Fortitude or Will are still required to have attack checks that go through Dodge and Parry. High Dodge and Parry therefore makes you better not just as avoiding physical damage, but also at avoiding effects like poisonous gas or knives made from a person's soul.</blockquote>While it's not necessary to have your Defenses high enough to meet the PL cap, it's strongly advised that they should - additionally, it's rarely a good idea to shift them too far in any specific direction. For new players, the recommendation tends to be not to have any Defense higher than PL+2 and no to have any Defense lower than PL-2. In many groups, there's an explicit requirement not to have any Defenses higher than PL*1.5 or lower than PL/2, and another common requirement is that no more than one of your Defensive pairings should be lower than allowed by the PL cap.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Superman is extremely tough, but doesn't bother to avoid attacks much, preferring to tank them to demoralize his opponents. As such, his Toughness is higher than his PL, but his Dodge and Parry are lower. Built at PL12, he has a Toughness of 15, a Dodge of 9, and a Parry of 6. This makes it easier to hit him at close range than at a distance (due to his Parry being lower than Dodge), and much harder to hurt than to hit. 15+9=24, which is the same as his PL*2, and 15+6=21, which is lower, so he falls within his PL limit. '''EXAMPLE''' Daredevil is an extremely acrobatic fighter, but he's not physically tougher than a normal human. As such, his Dodge and Parry are much higher than his PL, and his Toughness is lower. Built at PL8, he has a Dodge and Parry of 12, and a Toughness of 4. 12+4=16, which is equal to his PL*2, so he falls within his PL limit. '''EXAMPLE''' Captain America is agile and excels at defending himself, but he's also much tougher than a normal human. Built at PL8, his Dodge, Parry, and Toughness are all 8, keeping him within his PL limit.</blockquote> === [https://www.d20herosrd.com/4-skills/ Skills] === Much like Defenses, Skills begin with a base value equal to one of the 8 Abilities, and can then be increased - although Skills are much cheaper, and 2 ranks can be purchased for only 1 power point. Note that those ranks don't have to be assigned to the same Skill - you can spent 1pp to increase 2 different Skills by 1 rank each. There are 13 basic skills, plus Close Combat, Ranged Combat, and Expertise, which can be taken multiple times and apply to different things. Most Skills are largely self-explanatory based on their name, but it's a good idea to skim through the Skills page in the SRD, as most Skills have defined uses that are useful to be aware of. Notable defined options are listed below. Some Skills can only be used if you have ranks in them, and are called Trained-Only Skills - others can be used without skill ranks, using the bare Ability as the bonus. However, keep in mind that even for Trained-Only Skills, ranks don't necessarily represent actual training - they may represent natural talent or superpowers, as well. A GM may occasionally allow you to make a Trained-Only Skill without ranks, but when doing so, you cannot achieve a result that would require more than a DC 15 to attain. ===== Scaling a Skill Bonus ===== Generally speaking, +0 is the bonus that an average human has in a skill that they have no exposure to, +1 to +3 is the bonus for an amateur who uses the skill casually (for example, Expertise: Drawing for someone who doodles for fun) +4 to +6 is the bonus for a skill used by an average professional in their everyday life (for example, Investigation for a private eye), +7 to +9 for a skill used by a well-known, famous professional (for example, Deception for a highly-skilled actor like Meryl Streep), and +10 to +12 for a skill used by the most skilled normal humans in the world (for example, Athletics for an Olympic gold-winning sprinter like Usain Bolt). Superhumans, of course, aren't limited to these bonuses. Skills are PL-limited to a maximum of PL plus 10, so a PL8 character can have no skills with bonuses above +18, and a PL10 hits their max at +20. However, many groups - particularly living worlds - set lower caps to prevent skill bloat from discouraging new players. Most commonly, +15 is set as a hard cap for a characters 1-2 defining skills, with +12 as a soft cap for other skills. If a cap below this is set, it's usually +6 or +8 as the cap for skills which aren't part of a character's concept at all. When using a skill in-game, +5 tends to be the minimum at which it can reliably be useful - this is where you'll be hitting a DC 15 more than half the time, and reliably hitting DC 10. +8 tends to be the minimum for most players to feel useful with a skill that's part of a character's concept - this is where you'll only be rolling below DC 10 on a natural 1, and be beating DC 20s more than two thirds of the time. ===== Character-Defined Skills ===== '''Close Combat''' and '''Ranged Combat''' are the Skills which are used to make attack checks with offensive powers like <u>Damage</u> or <u>Affliction</u>. You may have multiple Close Combat Skills or Ranged Combat Skills, each applying to a different category of attack - these categories should be broad enough that they don't apply to just ''one'' attack, but limited enough to not apply to ''all'' possible attacks. Examples include Close Combat: Swords or Ranged Combat: Guns. These Skills are PL-Limited differently than the others - instead of having a maximum bonus of PL plus 10, they're matched with the highest-rank attack they apply to, and the two can't add together to more than PL*2. Every character has access to at least one of each - Close Combat: Unarmed and Ranged Combat: Thrown - even if they have no ranks in either.<blockquote>If you have multiple attacks under the same combat Skill but at different effect ranks - for example, if you have Ranged Combat: Guns, and both a Damage 6 submachine gun and a Damage 10 blast rifle - you can use the Accurate <u>Extra</u> or Inaccurate <u>Flaw</u> to adjust the final attack bonuses for each of those attacks.</blockquote>'''Expertise''' is the other Skill that can be taken multiple times and is defined per-character. Expertise is largely a fill-in-the-blank skill for professional skills (e.g. Expertise: Psychology or Expertise: Police Officer), and covers anything that reasonably falls under that category ''without already falling under another skill'' (e.g. Expertise: Actor would cover things like interacting with fans and negotiating contracts, but wouldn't cover the acting itself, as that would fall under Deception - similarly, Expertise: Police Officer would cover paperwork and knowledge of the law, but not investigations as that would fall under Investigation). Note that while Expertise is based on Intellect by default, an Expertise skill can be based on other Abilities in some circumstances. Most GMs allow you to choose a single Ability to use for an Expertise skill at all times, so long as that Ability is reasonably relevant - e.g. using Awareness for Expertise: Photography. Some, however, instead decree that different tasks within an Expertise may be based on different abilities - e.g. Expertise: Music might be based on Intellect when recalling trivia about a famous composer, but based on Presence when performing. The last important thing to note about Expertise is that it's possible to have a broad Expertise which covers all aspects of multiple more specific Expertises (e.g. Expertise: Science includes both Expertise: Biology and Expertise: Physics). How GMs handle this depends on the campaign, but generally speaking a more specific Expertise will have lower DCs for the same task than a broader Expertise (e.g. Expertise: Science might be able to identify a disease with a DC 20 check, but Expertise: Medicine would be able to do so at only a DC 15).<blockquote>Some GMs use a similar rule for Expertises which overlap with existing skills - e.g. they might allow Expertise: Police Officer to be used to make checks normally handled by Investigation, but with a higher DC than the Investigation skill itself would have.</blockquote>Most characters have at least one Expertise skill, covering their profession when they're not in superhero guise - many have two, covering their profession and their favorite hobby. ==== Notable Uses of Skills ==== * '''Acrobatics''' can be used to instantly stand up from <u>Prone</u>, or to reduce the damage of a fall. * You can make a DC 15 '''Athletics''' check as a free action to increase your normal movement speed by 1 rank, doubling your ground speed for a round. While this has no cost by RAW, many GMs will call for Fortitude checks against fatigue if you do so repeatedly, with some GMs allowing a number of free uses equal to your Stamina before making Fortitude checks at DC 10 and rising by 1 each use, similar to how Suffocation works. * '''Deception''' has two defined combat uses - Feinting and Tricking. Successfully Feinting an opponent makes them <u>Vulnerable</u> to your next attack, while Tricking can force them to waste an action on an unwise act. Both are Standard Actions, but can be made as <u>Move Actions</u> at a -5 penalty. * You can also use '''Deception''' to send an Innuendo, which allows you to pass a message to a friend in a way that's difficult for anyone overhearing you to understand. * '''Intimidation''' has a defined combat use as well - Demoralizing. Successfully Demoralizing an opponent makes them <u>Impaired</u> for a turn or, if you roll well enough, <u>Disabled</u>. Some GMs, although not all, will also allow you to Demoralize as a <u>Move Action</u> at a -5 penalty, much like Feinting and Tricking. An entire group of <u>Minions</u> can be affected by '''Intimidation''' at once. Some GMs, although not all, will allow you to use Deception to Feint or Trick an entire group of minions as well. * '''Insight''' can be used to notice that someone is being influenced, whether by mind control or simple persuasion. * '''Insight''' is also used to resist Demoralizing, Feinting, and Tricking. * '''Treatment''' can be used as a standard action, with a DC of 15, to remove the <u>Dazed</u> or <u>Stunned</u> conditions from a target. This will even revive <u>Incapacitated</u> characters. === [https://www.d20herosrd.com/5-advantages/ Advantages] === Something of a catch-all category, Advantages cost 1pp/rank and usually give new ways to do things or modify how other things you can do work. Like Skills, there are too many to go into detail on all of them in this page, so skim the SRD for details. That said, they tend to fall into one of six categories: * '''Circumstantial Bonus Advantages''' give you a bonus to a roll in a specific situation, or negate a circumstance penalty you would normally face in a specific situation. For example, the Teamwork advantage gives you a +5 bonus when you're making a roll to support an ally, and the Improved Disarm advantage negates the normal circumstance penalty you suffer when trying to Disarm someone. These kinds of advantages are particularly useful because circumstance bonuses are able to break PL caps - if you have Teamwork giving you +5 to hit because you're doing a Team Attack with an ally, you might end up having +10 to hit with a Damage 15 attack, even if you're only PL10. * '''Skill Usage Advantages''' give you an additional way to use a skill. For example, Assessment lets you use your Insight skill to get an idea of what an opponents Defenses are, and Inventor lets you use Technology to make a temporary device that will give you an extra power for a scene - think of when Spiderman makes a special kind of webbing that helps against a particular foe, and then never really brings it out again. Sometimes this comes as an expansion to an existing option - for example, the Redirect Advantage lets you use Trick to convince an enemy to attack you, and instead hit one of their allies standing behind you if they miss. * '''Rekeying Advantages''' move a specific usage of a skill to a fall under a different skill - for example, letting you pick locks with Sleight of Hand instead of Technology, or letting you use Intimidation to Feint an enemy instead of Deception. While there are few of these in the main book, you can propose a new one if it feels appropriate. * '''Hero Point Usages''' give you an extra way to spend a Hero Point. For example, Inspire lets you spend your action and a Hero Point to give all your allies a circumstance bonus to every roll they make until the start of your next turn, and Beginner's Luck lets you spend a hero point to get 5 temporary ranks in a skill you have less than 5 ranks in until the end of a scene. * '''Luck''' is in detail above, in the <u>Limited Resource Management</u> section. * '''Equipment''' is described in detail below. ==== Notable Options ==== * '''Assessment''' functions as described above. * '''Attractive''' represents being noticeably hot above and beyond what's normal for superheroes, and gives a circumstance bonus on certain interactions with those attractive to you: +2 at one rank, +5 at two ranks. * '''Beginner's Luck''' functions as described above. * '''Defensive Roll''' represents knowing how to roll with punches and absorb the force of blows, and increases your Toughness by 1pp/rank - however, note that Toughness gained from this advantage counts as an Active Defense, meaning that it is reduced by the <u>Vulnerable</u> or <u>Defenseless</u> conditions, as well as increased by effects like <u>Favored Environment</u> or <u>Defensive Attack</u>. * '''Eidetic Memory''' allows you to make Expertise checks with Skills you aren't trained in as if you were trained, but only to recall information and answer questions. Additionally (and separately), you have a +5 circumstance bonus to remember things you've experienced, or resist memory-altering or -erasing effects. * '''Evasion''' gives you a circumstance bonus on Dodge checks against Area effects: +2 at one rank, +5 at two ranks. * '''Fast Grab''' allows you to make a <u>Grapple</u> attempt as a free action after successfully hitting with an Unarmed attack. Note that this is a very powerful option, and not all tables allow it. * '''Favored Environment''' gives you a +2 bonus to either your attack checks or Active Defenses (Dodge and Parry, as well as any Toughness gained from Defensive Roll) when you are in a chosen environment. Note that this should not be an environment you're in consistently. Some GMs rule that if your character can produce your Favored Environment (e.g. a weather manipulator with Favored Environment: Storms), Favored Environment only functions when you didn't create the environment - others simple ban the combination, requiring you to instead take a <u>Flaw</u> on your attacks and/or Defenses to reduce them when not in that environment. * '''Improved Critical''' allows you to score a <u>Critical Hit</u> on a wider range of rolls than just natural 20s. Note that this is a very powerful option, and many tables place restrictions on it. * '''Inspire''' functions as described above. * '''Interpose''' allows you to, once per round, take an attack that would have hit another character. * '''Jack of All Trades''' allows you to make skill checks with Trained-Only skills, even if you have no ranks. Note, however, that this doesn't count as being Trained, so you are limited to DC 15 results unless your table rules otherwise. Many tables allow it to count as being Trained, but impose a limit on your Intellect when you have Jack of All Trades in order to prevent high-Intellect characters with Jack of All Trades overshadowing other characters' skills. * '''Second Chance''' allows you to reroll a failed check against a specific hazard, such as Fire Damage or Mind Control. * '''Setup''' allows you to grant the benefits of successfully Feinting an enemy to one or more allies, potentially multiplying the effect of your Feint. * '''Skill Mastery''' allows you to roll a specific non-combat skill as a Routine Check regardless of the situation, meaning that instead of rolling a d20 you simply take the result of 10 plus your bonus. Note that if this is not enough to pass the DC of the check, you may still roll. * '''Takedown''' allows you to make an extra attack after incapacitating a <u>Minion</u>, and continue doing so as long as there are <u>Minions</u> to target and you continue to defeat them. One rank allows you to do this as long as each target is next to the previous target, and you don't move - two ranks allows you to move between attacks, and doesn't require the targets to be next to each other. * '''Teamwork''' functions as described above. * '''Well-Informed''' lets you make Persuasion or Investigation check to retroactively have already investigated or heard gossip about a person or group you have only just met. ==== Trap Options ==== * '''Chokehold''' is flavorful, but very rarely usable due to the circumstances required for its DC to become high enough to fail. * '''Daze''', regardless of Skill used, is a waste - it trades a standard action for a ''chance'' of taking another character's ''move'' action, which can be done just as effectively with Damage while also adding Bruises. * '''Diehard''' is extremely flavorful, but Mutants and Masterminds is a system where death is extremely rare. It is therefore a trap in any table where lethality isn't common. * '''Quick Draw''', along with '''Benefit: Ambidexterity''', solves a problem that almost no GMs will bring up. The exception is if a GM allows you to use Quick Draw to pick up an object and immediately throw it as an attack. * '''Trance''' is flavorful, but very rarely usable. === Equipment === Although technically an Advantage, it's complex enough to get its own section. Each PP spent on Equipment gives you 5 Equipment Points to spend on items used in your heroic character which have material, mechanical benefits. You ''don't'' have to pay for things that aren't involved in your heroing, so long as they're stuff that's normal for a person of your level of wealth to have. So an average person doesn't need to spent points on their apartment or a car, and a wealthy hero doesn't need to pay to have a big house. However, a person ''without'' wealth would still need to pay to own, say, a mansion.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE:''' Bruce Wayne doesn't need to pay for Wayne Manor, but he does need to pay for the Batcave. He doesn't pay for his private jet, but he does pay for the Batmobile.</blockquote>Basic equipment costs the same amount of EP as a superpower with the same effect would cost if built with PP. However, the 80% discount comes with significant downsides. Not only does Equipment represent actual physical items that can be stolen, broken, or just not on you, but a GM can interfere with Equipment without giving you a resistance check or a Hero Point to bypass it. Additionally, Equipment needs to be something relatively mundane in the setting, enough that a non-superhero could reasonably purchase it.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE:''' In a medieval setting, a pistol wouldn't be allowed as Equipment, but a sword would. In a modern setting, a pistol would be allowed but an energy rifle wouldn't. In a science fiction setting, anything from energy rifles to spacesuits might be equipment</blockquote>Headquarters and Vehicles are the exception to this rule, as they can be non-mundane - Vehicles can be things like flying carpets or the Quinjet, and Headquarters can be places like a wizard's moving castle or the Watchtower. However, unlike other Equipment, you're expected to not have access to your Headquarters and Vehicle at all times. If your character is constantly using a flying broomstick to fly, it should generally be built as a <u>Device</u> rather than as a Vehicle. ==== Vehicles ==== Vehicles have an additional limitation in how they take damage. If they fail a Toughness check against <u>Damage</u> by two degrees, in addition to being Bruised they lose a rank of a <u>Power</u> or one of their Features - if they would fail by three degrees, they stop working entirely, and four degrees of failure destroy them completely. This takes the place of <u>Daze</u> and <u>Stagger</u> in the normal damage chart.<blockquote>An option in ''Gadget Guides'' is the Durable extra, which doubles the EP cost of a Vehicle in return for allowing it to take damage like a normal creature - that is, they don't lose anything at two degrees of failure, their speed is halved at three, they only stop working at four degrees of failure or when taking three degrees of failure twice, and they aren't entirely destroyed unless they suffer what would be lethal damage.</blockquote>The [https://www.d20herosrd.com/7-gadgets-gear/vehicles/ SRD has charts] to determine the basic traits of a vehicle, as well as examples of 1 point Features like being able to be piloted remotely. Other <u>Powers</u>, such as whatever method of Movement it grants, are paid for as if it was any other piece of Equipment - 5 EP to get a power costing 5 points.<blockquote>Note that Vehicles are assumed to provide any and all life support necessary for their passengers to operate within their normal environment, at no cost. For example, a spaceship provides clean, breathable air and a normal range of temperature for its passengers without having to pay for it. However, vehicles that do so in environments other than their normal environment - such as an otherwise-normal car that still provides breathable air while underwater - must pay for the <u>Immunity</u> <u>Power</u> to do so.</blockquote>Mounts and steeds such as a magical pegasus are often best built as vehicles, using a free feature called Muscle-Powered. The full details of this modifier are in ''Time Traveler's Codex'', but can be summed up as "it's remote-controlled for free, is piloted using interaction skills instead of Vehicles, it can be targeted by and can benefit from interaction-based abilities and effects like Leadership and Demoralization, and its top speed is assumed to include it pushing itself to its limit, so it can can only hit that speed for a limited time (but can go farther at half speed or indefinitely at a quarter speed)". ==== Headquarters ==== Headquarters are even cheaper than Vehicles - even powers only cost a single point, albeit with strict restrictions on total cost. This is because, while heroes aren't expected to have access to their Vehicles all times, useful access to a Headquarters during an adventure is even rarer. Similar to Vehicles, the [https://www.d20herosrd.com/7-gadgets-gear/installations/ SRD has charts] for basic traits and example Features. ==== Blending Vehicles and HQs ==== Some vehicles and HQs blend the line between the two - there's a Headquarters feature called Moveable which lets it be moved from place to place, and large enough Vehicles can have features normally exclusive to HQs, like having living quarters. The distinction between them is essentially a matter of how often it moves and how impactful it is. An HQ moves no more than once or twice a game, only to change settings - a Vehicle is used for things like chase scenes and action sequences.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Your characters travel through space in a large starship serving as their home. When it's attacked by pirates, one person flies the ship and leads the pirates into an asteroid field, while other characters man gunning stations to fire on the pirates. Their starship is a Vehicle with Headquarters features. '''EXAMPLE''' Your characters travel through space in a large starship serving as their home. When it's attached by pirates, the pirates board the skip and the characters fight them within the ship, controlling features like the artificial gravity systems and life support in order to fight back. Their starship is a Headquarters with the Moveable feature.</blockquote>The easiest way to decide whether a vehicle which straddles the line between these is to ask this question - if attacked, does the vehicle serve as a moveable piece within the battle, or is the vehicle itself the location where the battle takes place? === Powers === Powers are the most complex part of a character, because they're extremely customizable thanks to the different pieces that go into them. Every Power is made up of 2 to 4 pieces - Effects, Extras, Flaws, and Descriptors - and by using these you can create nearly any superpower you can image. ===== The Building Blocks of a Power ===== '''Effects''' are the basic mechanical building blocks of a power - they describe the default mechanical description of what a power does. For example, the Damage Effect forces a target to make a Toughness check or take the penalties described above, in the Defenses section. Effects each have a basic cost-per-rank, but many effects may have a different cost-per-rank from others. For example, Damage is 1pp/rank, but Flight is 2pp/rank. '''Extras''' and '''Flaws''' can be added to an effect to modify the mechanical aspects of an Effect. For example, Increased Range lets an effect that normally functions in melee, like Damage, to be used at a distance, and Distracting gives you the <u>Vulnerable</u> <u>Condition</u> until your next turn after using the power. Extras increase the cost of an effect, and Flaws reduce it. In both cases, they can either be '''per-rank''' - so they adjust the cost of each rank of the effect - or '''flat''' - adding or subtracting a flat price on top, regardless of how many ranks you have. More powerful extras/limiting flaws tend to be per-rank. Flat extras are generally more flavorful things, like Indirect, which lets an attack originate from somewhere other than yourself. Finally, '''Descriptors''' show the non-mechanical flavor of an effect. They generally come in one of three types: '''Source Descriptors''' show where the power behind an effect comes from (for example, Magic), '''Medium Descriptors''' show what transfers the effect (for example, Electrical), and '''Effect Descriptors''' show what the effect actually causes (for example, Curse). Not all powers have all three Descriptors as they often overlap, and many powers have more than three - those three options are, however, the ones that should be considered when choosing descriptors. Descriptors have no mechanical effect on their own, but they help determine how powers interact with each other or with the environment. A laser might not need the Ricochet extra to be allowed to bounce off a mirror or shoot through a window, for example - but conversely, a fireball doesn't get points back for being unable to burn in a vacuum. Descriptors often help distinguish two powers that might otherwise be mechanically identical. Laser vision and throwing fireballs might both be Ranged Damage, but the different descriptors mean that they can do different things and have different limits. Additionally, you can use a power with appropriate descriptors to counter another effect. For example, if a building is on fire and you have a Gust of Wind power, you might be able to use that to counter the flames and extinguish the fire. Lastly, it should be noted that some powers work based on descriptors. Immunity is the big one here - when you buy ranks of Immunity, you choose specific descriptors to be immune to. For example, Immunity: Electrical makes you immune to stuff like lightning bolts or tasers. A Power, then, is a single unit that collects these together and gives it a name. A Call Lightning power that magicall summons a bolt of lightning from the sky could be built as Damage with Increased Range, Limited to Outdoors, and Indirect 3 (Each strike originating from anywhere in the sky, and striking directly below its originating point), with the Electric, Magical, and Weather descriptors. The basic concept, in short, is that you build what you want a power to do mechanically by using effects, modified by extras and flaws as appropriate, then add descriptors to flavor it.<blockquote>Not everyone bothers to explicitly list out the descriptors for a power. This is usually fine - descriptors are often implied by the name or description of a power. It is, however, important that others, especially the GM, are able to understand the concept of a power well enough to infer what it can and cannot do - descriptors are one tool of many which helps do so.</blockquote> ==== Notable Powers ==== * '''Affliction''' temporarily imposes <u>Conditions</u> on the target, chosen when you build the power. By picking different <u>Conditions</u> to impose and different Defenses as the resistance check, Affliction can be used for a wide variety of powers - most attacks that aren't basic <u>Damage</u> are an Afflictions. * '''Create''' temporarily creates physical objects in a shape you choose. It's most obviously used for Green Lantern-like powers, but can also be used for things like growing plants or reshaping the environment. Note that it can usually be used to attack by creating and dropping an object onto someone, or by trying to trap someone. * '''Damage''' is a power that everyone has access to as part of their Strength. Notably, you can set Damage as Strength-Based - meaning that the effective rank of the Damage is equal to your Strength plus the ranks of the Damage power - for effects like claws or magical swords. Anything which simply hurts the target is likely Damage. * '''Deflect''' is a power used to actively defend other targets from attacks. * '''Healing''' lets you remove penalties from Damage from yourself or other characters by spending an action, and with appropriate descriptors can also provide additional saves against and/or circumstance bonuses against Afflictions. It's also a very powerful effect, which many tables place additional restrictions on. * '''Immunity''' allows you to automatically succeed on resistance checks against effects matching a specific descriptor. * '''Move Object''' is used for telekinesis and similar effects, including allowing you to <u>Grapple</u>. * '''Protection''' adds directly to your Toughness, without counting as an Active Defense as the Defensive Roll advantage does. * '''Regeneration''' lets you remove penalties from Damage from yourself without spending actions. Like Healing, it's very powerful and often restricted. * '''Sense''' allows your character to detect things beyond the human normal. Note that Senses do ''not'' allow you to automatically detect things without fail - you still need to make Perception checks to find them, and characters can hide things with Stealth or Sleight of Hand (or, with appropriate descriptors, spotting using Insight vs Deception). * '''Sense''' is also the power used to buy upgrades for existing senses - for example, navigating well enough by sound to echolocate, or being able to see infrared light. * '''Weaken''' is the last of the attacking effects (along with Affliction, Damage, Move Object, and - arguably - Create), and can be used for draining effects. * Each rank of '''Variable''' gives you 5pp that can be reallocated as an action on your turn, into anything that fits the inherent limitation of that Variable power chosen when you buy the power. For example, a shapeshifted might have Variable for physical traits, meaning that they can't raise their Intellect with those PP, but they can grow wings to fly with and sharpen their eyes to see better. Note that Variable introduces at a lot of at-the-table complexity, and most new players should therefore avoid it. ==== Notable Extras and Flaws ==== * '''Affects Objects''' allows an effect which would normally not affect objects due to being resisted by Will or Fortitude to affect them, with the object typically failing to the worst degree of the effect automatically. This is most often used for effects like a disintegration ray, built as a Fortitude-Resisted Weaken Toughness. * '''Alternate Resistance''' lets you change the resistance check of an attack, most often used for effects like a psychic attack, built as Will-Resisted Damage. Note that Bruises apply to ''all'' checks against Damage, regardless of the resistance check of the attack that caused the Bruise - a Bruise from a psychic blow resisted by Will still gives a penalty to resist a Toughness-resisted gunshot. * '''Area''' lets an effect that normally targets only one person instead target everyone in an area. Area effects don't have an attack roll, and are therefor capped at Rank=PL rather than at Accuracy+Rank=PL*2, as described above in the ''Dodge'' section of ''Defenses.'' There are multiple options for the shape of the area. Note that unless you have the <u>Selective</u> extra, you must affect ''all'' targets in the area, including allies and civilians. As such, smaller areas (such, Line, Cone, and Shapeable) inherently pay for some of their smaller area by being easier to avoid hitting allies with. Note for Shapeable specifically that some GMs may require the Precise extra to be able to hit only certain combatants in very close quarters, such as one of two targets <u>Grappling</u> each other. * Considered separately from full Area is the option to have the Area extra on only some of the ranks of an effect. '''Partial Area''' effects still have an attack roll, but if they miss, the target still takes the effect of the Area as if they had successfully passed the Dodge check against an Area effect of the ranks of Partial Area. That is, a Damage 10 effect with 8 ranks of Area would still do Damage 4 to its target if it missed, in addition to all other targets in the affected area making dodge checks as if subjected to a normal Area Damage 8 effect. * '''Increased Range''' lets a melee effect be used at a distance. * A second rank of Increased Range, or a single rank when applied to an already-ranged effect, makes an effect '''Perception Range.''' Perception Range effects have no accuracy roll and are therefore capped at Rank=PL, but make up for it by hitting automatically, so long as you can perceive the target with an Accurate Sense. * '''Multiattack''' ''doesn't'' give you additional attacks, but it allows an effect to be used to attack multiple targets in an arc at once, or to get a circumstance bonus to its rank if it hits a single target with extra degrees of success on the attack roll. Note that unless you have the <u>Selective</u> extra, you must affect ''all'' targets in the arc, including allies and civilians. * '''Selective''' lets you choose specific targets to not be affected by an effect, most often used for Area effects. It can also be used to exclude certain targets from a Multiattack arc, the spread of a Contagious power, or to refrain from striking someone with the second hit of a Secondary Effect power. * '''Activation''' requires you to spend an action (either a <u>Move Action</u> for -1pp, or a <u>Standard Action</u> for -2 pp) to bring one or more powers online before they can be used. This is particularly useful for creating an ''Alternate Form,'' a set of powers available only after 'transforming' by activating them - for example, Billy Batson would have all of Shazam's powers locked behind an Activation Flaw. Note that if you have multiple powers that are all activated by a single action, that is only a single application of the Activation flaw. If each power has Activation and the resulting discount, they must be activated separately. * '''Limited''' is a generic, customizable Flaw used when no specific Flaw works, for -1/rank. A Limited should ideally make an effect about half as useful - less limiting flaws are better done as <u>Quirks</u> or <u>Complications</u>. * '''Noticeable''' allows a permanent effect to be noticed - for example, a Protection effect that becomes obvious due to thick scales coating you. * '''Quirk''' is a generic, customizable Flaw similar to Limited, but as a flat -1 instead of -1/rank. Some Quirks are work multiple ranks of Quirk. ==== Devices ==== The Removable Power turns things into Devices - one or more Powers granted by a physical object, like a set of power armor or a magical sword. It comes in two levels - Easily Removable items are subject to being <u>Smashed</u> or <u>Disarmed</u>, and Removable items are only subject to being <u>Smashed</u>. For an extra 1pp (after the discount), a Device can be made indestructible - however, only Easily Removeable Items should be Indestructible. An item that can neither be <u>Disarmed</u> nor <u>Smashed</u> is better represented as a <u>Complication</u>. The distinction between a Device and Equipment is twofold. First, Devices are Powers and thus much more difficult for the GM to interfere with. Secondly, Devices do not have to be mundane - you can have magic swords even in a modern-day setting where normal people have no magic. ==== Arrays ==== One of the most important concepts to understand with powers is Arrays. Essentially, powers that are conceptually the same ability used in different ways can be grouped together. You pay the full price of the most expensive power in the Array, then 1 only power point for each other power. The limit is that you can only use one power at time - while grabbing someone with telekinesis, you wouldn't be able to switch to another power in the array to make a shield of force around an ally while still maintaining the grab.<blockquote>By paying an extra 1PP for the most expensive power and 2 PP instead of 1 PP for each other power in the array, you can have a Dynamic Array. This allows you to use multiple powers within an array at once, but only as many ranks as you can pay for by moving around the PP of the most expensive power. For example, if arrayed between a 2pp/rank Flight Power at rank 9 (total cost 18pp) and a 3pp/rank Move Object power at rank 6 (total cost 18pp), a Dynamic Array could allow you to use 4 ranks of Move Object (total cost 12pp) and 3 ranks of Flight (total cost 6pp) at once (total cost 12+6=18pp). You can even have some entries in an array be dynamic while others are not - e.g. a character might be able to mix Move Object and Flight, but only be able to use an Immunity: Bullets power at full ranks. Like Variable, Dynamic Arrays introduce at-the-table complexity that most new players should avoid.</blockquote>They're most often used for combat powers, as attacking powers tend to be expensive. Arrays can also be used for movement powers - however, they generally shouldn't be mixed between the two. More passive powers like Senses should generally not be arrayed, even with other passive powers, but this is table-dependent.<blockquote>The '''Alternate Effect''' extra is what makes Arrays possible.</blockquote> === Complications === Lastly, Complications are narrative flaws and issues that plague your character. This includes everything from "I take extra damage from fire" to "I have a phobia of spiders". Most notably, you should have a Motivation Complication which represents why your character does heroic things - theoretically, this Motivation Complication is why you begin each adventure with a Hero Point.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' ''Enemy: The Joker.'' Batman has a great many foes, but the Joker stands above all others - sometimes, the Joker will even strike at him in the middle of another adventure entirely. '''EXAMPLE''' ''Motivation: Responsibility''. Spider-Man has been taught that with great power comes great responsibility, and acts as a superhero because he believes it's his responsibility to help others when he can. '''EXAMPLE''' ''Power Loss: Emotions''. The Hulk's strength comes from his anger. If he becomes calm, he may transform back into Bruce Banner without intending to, and not be able to transform back - or simply find his incredible strength and durability waning. '''EXAMPLE''' ''Quirk: Calling Card''. Zorro always leaves his mark, a Z-shaped scar or slash, when he fights crime. Authorities or enemies chasing him down can easily tell if he's done something and where he's been - and an enemy could easily frame him by mimicking it. '''EXAMPLE''' ''Weakness: Yellow.'' The Green Lantern's ring has a flaw in it, a weakness to the color yellow. Yellow items and attacks can ignore his Force Field power, striking him as if he had only his normal Toughness.</blockquote> == How to Build a Character == === Broad Strokes === Decide on the broad-strokes concept of your characters - are they a superman type? A billionaire possessed by a demon? An alien cop with a collection of advanced tech? Get a mental image of the character, so you can figure out what makes sense from them to have and not to have. === Key Elements === Build the key elements of your character - the absolute minimum, the things they ''must'' have in order to fit your vision. That might be Powers, Advantage, Skills, a mix... the key here is that they're the things the character can't do without, regardless of price.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE:''' Daredevil should buy Sense powers here. '''EXAMPLE:''' Batman should buy the Batmobile and Batcave, as well as Benefit: Wealth 5. '''EXAMPLE:''' The Hulk should buy his Strength up to around PL+2, with extra Enhanced Strength (Limited to Lifting) to taste.</blockquote> === Defenses === Decide what the balance of Defenses you want for the character is, and buy them up to that point. Defenses are necessary and can be expensive, so you should buy them early. === Combat === Buy your combat stuff - at least one attack, although ideally you'll have a way of targeting Toughness, Fortitude, and Will. Not all concepts can, but it's good to be able to hit enemies hard in their weaknesses. You usually want to buy combat powers as an array, even if you only by one of them to start. This includes buying the accuracy for those attacks, whether they come from the Skills, the Accurate Extra, Advantages, or some mix of the above. Recall that Perception Ranged attacks and Area attacks have no need for accuracy. === Movement === Buy a movement power, if appropriate. Something like Speed, Flight, or even Leaping. Not all heroes need this - recall that, at minimum, all heroes can move at Speed 0, and can use Athletics to increase that to Speed 1 as a free action. If your character will have movement granted by Equipment - a grapnel gun or flying broomstick, for example - buy that here as well. === Abilities === Buy Abilities. Make sure that you reduce the corresponding Defenses as you buy Abilities that contribute to them - you don't want to screw up the balance you decided on - and similarly reduce the accuracy of your attacks if you increase your Fighting or Dexterity. If you have any Strength-Based Damage powers and increase your Strength, reduce the rank of Damage, as well. === Skills === Buy the non-combat Skills you want. Don't go above a total of +10 in any skill, at this point. === Advantages === Buy advantages here. Don't go too crazy with Advantages at this point - stick with the basics that make sense for your character. === Passive Powers === Most notable here are Senses and Immunities, but any non-combat power with mechanical effect can go here. === Flavor === Things that are just plain fun, even if they aren't all that impactful. === Budgeting === Don't go crazy with spending as you do this, but you shouldn't worry too much about the point total, either. Only once you've gone through all of the above should you worry about budgeting. Here are some guidelines for where to look depending on whether you've spent too much or too little, but also feel free to ask for suggestions on what else to buy or what to cut. ==== Spending More ==== If you're less than 10 pp under budget, you probably want to focus on skills and advantages, which are impactful for relatively cheap. If you're less than 25 pp under budget, take a look at passive powers and abilities, which tend to be more expensive. If you're more than 25 pp under budget, your concept might be a bit narrow or underpowered - consider expanding the capabilities of your character by adding an extra wrinkle. Give your supersoldier some leadership skills and set them up as a social face, give your alien some advanced tech, etc. ==== Spending Less ==== If you're less than 5pp over budget, look at cutting from skills and advantages, and maybe the abilities associated with defenses. If you're less than 15pp over budget, look at cutting extras from your combat powers, reducing the rank of movement powers, and cutting passive powers entirely. If you're more than 20pp over budget, your concept might be too broad for a starting character - consider shifting to narrow their abilities. Drop most of  the leadership skills and let them grow into that role, for example. However, you may also simply be building things poorly (for example, not making use of arrays), and be able to rebuild a little to get things more cheaply. This is particularly likely if you're 30 or more PP over budget. == The Game In Play == === Actions === A round consists of turns, each made up of actions. On your turn, you have one '''Standard Action''' and one '''Move Action''' - you can use your Standard Action on something that normally costs a Move Action (for example, Teleporting twice), but not the other way around. Most combat options use a Standard Action. In addition to a Standard Action and a Move Action, you also have Free Actions, as many as the GM allows you to use. Both on your turn and off it, you have access to Reactions - however, the only Reactions characters can take without purchasing a Power or Advantage that gives one is to spend a Hero Point or to <u>Ready an Action.</u> === Conditions === Most often impose by the Affliction Power, Conditions impose limitations or penalties on a character. The most notable ones are Impaired and Disabled (which impose a -2 or -5 penalty on all rolls, respectively), Vulnerable (which halves your Dodge and Parry, as well as any ranks of Defensive Roll you have), Defenseless (which entirely removes your Dodge and Parry, as well as any ranks of Defensive Roll you have, but also allows enemies to attack you as routine check, and to get an automatic Critical Hit if they roll and hit you), and Stunned (which prevents you from taking any actions, including Free Actions). Some Conditions are combinations of other Conditions. For example, Exhausted means that you are both Fatigued and Impaired. === Strategy === The most important thing to remember when playing is that the game is ''not'' about fighting villains - it's about being a superhero. Sometimes that means fighting villains, but often there are other objectives that are more important - for example, rescuing civilians from a collapsing building should take priority over attacking the villain who knocked it down. Additionally, remember that teamwork is very powerful in MnM. Characters with no chance of defeating a powerful villain can work together to take them out easily - which is, of course, why the villains should work to divide their attention. Lastly, remember that you have a number of options beyond the Powers on your sheet. ==== Options to Remember ==== * You can adjust the accuracy and effect ranks of powers that have attack rolls using the Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, and Power Attack Maneuvers. Remember that you can only trade off by up to 2 points without the relevant advantage, and that you can only apply one Maneuver to an attack without special allowance from the GM. * Successfully Feinting an opponent - whether with Deception or with Intimidation thanks to the Startle Advantage - is a good lead-up to a powerful but low-accuracy attack. The Set-Up advantage allows you to pass the benefits of the Feint on to allies who may have more powerful attacks or a lower Skill bonus to Feint with. * Successfully Demoralizing an opponent - whether with Intimidation or with Deception thanks to the Taunt advantage - is like temporarily adding 2 Bruises to them, ''and'' making them worse at doing everything else. * The Aid action can be used to make an ally's next attack significantly more accurate (allowing for a similar benefit as when Feinting), with the benefit of not being a Maneuver - meaning that it can be combined with Power Attack. * Team Attacks allow you to work with an ally to make a significantly more powerful attack than either of you could manage alone, as well as gaining additional accuracy if you have the Teamwork Advantage. * Minions are a category of enemy with special interactions with the Takedown power, and who take the greatest possible degree of failure from any effect they fail the resistance check of by even by one degree. Additionally, you can attack them as a routine action - doing so is often an excellent way to deal with them quickly, particularly if you have a power with Multiattack and/or the Takedown Advantage. * Grappling in MnM is both much more powerful and much less complicated than in many systems. It relatively easily imposes Vulnerable and/or Defenseless, is often difficult to escape from once established, and prevents escaping. Extremely strong characters, along the lines of Superman or the Hulk, can use grapples with incredible effectiveness. * You can Ready an Action to take place as a Reaction once before your next turn, which may be the only way to target a teleporter or speedster who rushes in and out of reach. == Guidelines for Unclear Options == The following are guidelines for how to deal with parts of the system with little or insufficient guidance. === Pricing Guidelines === The Feature power can be used to gain circumstance bonuses to certain rolls, but should not do so at greater efficiency than Skill Ranks. General guidelines are as follows: * A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill, or a particular use of multiple skills, only in a limited set of circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. Compare to the Attractive advantage to see if the circumstances are limited enough. * A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances, or any use of a skill in a limited set of circumstances, should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. * A Feature that gives a non-circumstantial bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances, or any use of a skill in limited circumstances, should be a Limited Enhanced Skill, giving 4 skill ranks for that specific use for 1pp, rather than a Feature. * A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill in any circumstance should be an Enhanced Skill, rather than a Feature. Immunity can be used for descriptors outside those explicitly listed in the book. General guidelines to the price of these are as follows: * 1PP: descriptors that are primarily flavor, or immunity to individual people's powers. * 2PP: descriptors that are particularly rare, or subsets of 5pp immunities (e.g. Immunity to a specific Interaction skill or emotion, rather than all Interaction skills or emotions). * 5pp: descriptors that are common, but only as used for a single power (e.g. Damage of a specific descriptor, a particular type of Affliction such as entrapment or sensory attacks). * 10pp: descriptors that are common, as used for multiple powers. * 20pp: extremely common descriptors that subsume multiple 10pp descriptors. Note that Slashing and Piercing count as a single 20pp descriptor. === When to Use Different Options === MnM has a number of ways to build similar effects using different powers. Here are some common points of confusion ==== Protecting Others: Create, Deflect, Affects Others Immunity? ==== Create should be used when your power can provide shelter from area attacks, or when it can be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' A magical forcefield that blocks all attacks, until shattered by a powerful strike.</blockquote>Deflect should be used when your power can redirect attacks, or when it can be pierced by a sufficiently accurate attack.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' A magical shield that darts around an area to intercept attacks, but may fail to block a strike that comes to quickly.</blockquote>Affects Others Immunity should be used when your power is unbreakable, but only functions against a limited subset of attacks.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' A magical ward against fire, but which doesn't protect against bullets.</blockquote> ==== Extreme Talent: Skills or Powers? ==== A number of forms of extreme talent can be represented as either Skills or as Powers. Parkour is one of the most common examples, possible to build either as simple high Athletics or as a rank of Speed, Leaping, and Wall-Crawling - another common example is heightened senses, possible as either high Perception or as various Sense options. The reason to build with Powers rather than Skills generally comes down to one of two reasons. First is consistency - as most power-built options of this type don't call for rolls, a character with high Athletics will have a chance to fail while climbing a wall in a way that a character with Wall-Crawling doesn't. Second is adding options that the skills alone don't grant - no point at the Perception skill will let you echolocate, but Senses 2: Accurate Hearing will. The reason to build with Skills rather than Powers generally comes down to wanting the other benefits provided by that skill which the power version doesn't give, often due to being more focused - Senses: Extended Vision allows you to see much farther away, but it doesn't let you spot things around you as well as +10 Perception does. Similarly, while a power-built Parkour power may allow you to climb faster than simple Athletics, it doesn't help you escape from Grabs. In the end, choosing between them largely comes down to personal preference. ==== Draining Effects: Affliction or Weaken? ==== Affliction (Impaired->Disabled->Transformed, limited to the specific trait being drained) is a way of representing draining attacks that can sometimes be more appropriate than Weaken. Affliction is best used when the drained trait would return all at once rather than slowly over time. ==== Versatility: Variable or an Array? ==== The Variable power should only be used when it is necessary for a concept. Keep in mind that most concepts who are designed to be versatile are able to accomplish that versatility using Power Stunts. Examples of concepts which may have genuine need for Variable include Power Mimics, versatile Shapeshifters, and focused Inventors. One way to determine if Variable is necessary is to try building the most common sets that Variable would use, then compare the cost of an array including all of those options to the price of a Variable that covers all of those options. As a general guideline, Variable is only cheaper if the array would include at least 2-3 options for each rank of Variable. Another way to see if Variable is necessary is to consider that same list of common sets, and try to come up with scenarios where you might need to use something outside of those prebuilt options. If you have difficulty imagining scenarios not covered by those sets, Variable is likely not necessary. ==== Inventors: the Invention advantage, Devices, or Slow Variable (Devices)? ==== Some characters have the skillset to create impressive works of technology or magical relics as an integral part of their concept. However, there are multiple ways to represent this. Note that these options are not exclusive. The Invention advantage best represents a character creating a new, temporary invention during a storyline to counter a specific threat. As it is relatively cheap - and also difficult to use in a living world setting - it is best taken as a flavor purchase, often on top of the other options. The Removable flaw, which turns a set of powers into a Removable or Easily Removable Device, best represents a specific set of items that are integral to a character's concept. If a character has the same inventions each time they appear, those inventions are most likely Devices. Slow Variable (Devices) gives a character a selection of PP which can be used to buy any Devices, reassigning them during downtime. If a character switches between different devices often, bringing different options to different appearances, those devices most likely come from a Slow Variable power. ==== Ridiculous Weapon Skills: Devices or Powers with a Quirk? ==== There are two ways to build a swordsman with ridiculous weapon skills, such as deflecting bullets. Either his sword is special, or they are. This also applies for characters like Green Arrow, Deadshot, and similar. If the skills are only usable with one particular weapon - due to a spiritual bonding, the weapon's inherent magical properties, a psychological belief, or any other reason - they should be built with a Device. If the skills are usable with any weapon of the appropriate type, they should be built as Powers with a -1 Quirk: Requires a [weapon]. The character will then either have a Device or a piece of Equipment which provides access to that Power. ==== Utility Belts, Guns, and Similar: Devices or Equipment? ==== The Removable Flaw should be used to create a Device whenever one or more of the following is true: * The item isn't obtainable by an average wealthy person in the setting (e.g. a magical sword in a setting with magic kept secret from normal society). * The item is unbreakable by ordinary means (e.g. a shield made from adamantium). * The item uses technology with no theoretical basis under current understanding of physics (e.g. a personal teleporter, even if a rich person in the setting might have access to one). * The item can only be used by one person and no one else, under normal circumstances. * The item is important enough to the character's concept that taking it from them is a serious hindrance not to their ability to function, but to their ability to fulfill their concept. * The item is not a prebuilt piece of Equipment out of the book, and is built with a rank of 7 or more. If none of the above is true, the item may be built as Equipment. ==== Unbreakable Items: Devices or Complications? ==== The Removable Flaw comes with three major drawbacks - that they can be destroyed, that they can be disarmed, and that they may not always be present. The first two drawbacks are mechanical, and the third is narrative. Removable Devices can be destroyed, but not stolen - Easily Removable Devices can be both destroyed and broken. However, you can pay extra to make a Device Indestructible. An Easily Removable Device can be Indestructible, if descriptors justify it. A Removable Device should never be Indestructible - if it would be, instead simply build it as a normal Power or set of Powers, and add a Power Loss Complication. ==== Sidekicks and Summons: the Minion Advantage, the Sidekick advantage, the Summon power, or flavor? ==== Most of the time, side characters of any kind shouldn't be built as Minions, Sidekicks, or Summon. Instead, build them as flavor for other powers.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Someone who summons ghosts should, rather than having Summon, have an array of ranged powers with Indirect 4, representing ghosts attacking on their behalf. '''EXAMPLE''' Someone with a helper who feeds them information through an earpiece should, rather than having a Sidekick, should have an Enhanced Trait power giving them extra skills and Advantages, as well as a Complication representing that that helper can be targeted. '''EXAMPLE''' Someone with a robotic drone that they control remotely should, rather than having Summon, have their character sheet be built as the drone, with Immortality representing rebuilding the drone, and a Complication representing their actual self.</blockquote> ==== Steeds: Powers or Vehicles? ==== If, conceptually, you are always on your steed, then it should be a Power, using Removable or a Power Loss Complication to represent that it can take damage or be taken from you. Otherwise, it should be a Vehicle. This applies whether your steed is a flying carpet, a motorcycle, or a flying horse. ==== Moving Homes: Vehicles with Rooms or Headquarters with Moveable? ==== Imagine that your moving home is attacked as part of a game. If, in that scene, you pilot it to avoid dangers in the environment and your allies strike back through windows or using weapons built into the home, it is a Vehicle. If your home is invaded by attackers, and you fight them off within your home itself, it is a Headquarters. 15b168b6b731307f2c3b723f2326e63c7c23766c 45 30 2024-01-12T22:12:11Z AbyssWatcher 5 /* Conditions */ wikitext text/x-wiki <blockquote>This walkthrough is designed to be read in order, explaining concepts and system aspects as they become important. On occasion, a concept will be mentioned before it is fully explained - when this happens, it will be <u>underlined</u> to reassure you that the explanation will come in time. Information inset like this is optional - examples or expository notes that provide additional context or answer common questions, but aren't necessary to understand the system. As this is a basic walkthrough, it will not address all parts of the system, but instead link to the [https://www.d20herosrd.com/ free online SRD] for full detauls where appropriate.</blockquote> == Basic Concepts == === d20 System === MnM is a dedicated d20 system, meaning that all conflict resolution is accomplished using a twenty-sided die (rather than dice with other numbers of sides, like some systems use for damage, or with multiple dice rolled to determine successes). Any time you roll for something, you will roll a d20 and add any relevant bonuses you may have, then compare it to a DC set by the GM. Sometimes the GM will similarly roll against a DC set by your own character's traits, and sometimes you'll even roll against another person who is also rolling. In the case of opposed dice rolls, ties are broken by the higher bonus, with a second roll-off when the bonuses are equal. Otherwise, the roller wins a tie against a static DC.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Robin is trying to run across a rooftop to grab a child before they trip and fall, but doesn't have the speed to get there in time. He attempts a DC 15 <u>Athletics</u> check to temporarily increase his movement speed, by rolling a d20 and adding his <u>Athletics</u> skill of 8. He gets a 9 on the die, +8, for a total of 17 - this means he successfully increases his speed, and rescues the child. '''EXAMPLE''' Later the same night, Robin attempts to sneak past Alfred to get into Wayne Manor without anyone noticing he was out on his own. He attempts an opposed roll of his <u>Stealth</u> vs Alfred's <u>Perception</u>, rolling d20+10 against Alfred's d20+6. Alfred rolls a 13+6 for a total of 19, which loses to Robin's result of a 12+10,totaling 22. '''EXAMPLE''' He still needs to make it past Batman, however. Once again, they roll <u>Stealth</u> vs <u>Perception</u>, and Robin rolls an 8+10, while Batman rolls 6+12. Both results total to 18, but Batman has a higher bonus, a +12 vs a +10, so Batman spots him. '''EXAMPLE''' Robin tries to argue that he shouldn't be punished by telling him about the child he saved from falling, but the GM controlling Batman tells him that he needs to roll against Batman's <u>Will</u> in order to persuade him. They both roll d20+10, Robin's <u>Persuasion</u> and Batman's <u>Will</u>, and both get a total of 15+10, for 25. Because their bonuses are the same, they roll again to determine the result, and this time Robin loses with a result of 14 to Batman's 21, and is sent to bed without being allowed to join him on patrol that night.</blockquote> === Degrees of Success and Failure === Often, the exact outcome of a roll depends not just on whether or not you beat a DC or fail to, but ''how much'' you succeed or fail. Meeting the DC exactly is 1 degree of success - for every 5 above the DC you roll, you achieve an extra degree of success. On the other hand, every 5 ''below'' the DC you roll is an extra degree of failure.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Investigating a robbery, Batman rolls an <u>Investigation</u> check against a DC of 15. He gets a total of 25, which is three degrees of success. Because of his extra degrees of success, the GM gives him not just the DC 15 evidence that the Mad Hatter was responsible, but also allows him to find a receipt for a hotel where the Hatter is staying. '''EXAMPLE''' While fighting against the Mad Hatter, he manages to put a hat on Batman's head and force him to roll his <u>Will</u> against a mind controlling effect. Batman rolls an 18 against a DC of 20, which is 1 degree of failure. As such, he is <u>Entranced</u>, preventing him from taking actions until hostile action snaps him out of it. '''EXAMPLE''' With Batman momentarily out of the picture, the Hatter puts a hat on Robin's head. Robin rolls worse, getting only a 14 against the DC of 20, which is 2 degrees of failure. Rather than being <u>Entranced</u>, he is <u>Compelled</u>, allowing the Hatter to control his actions.</blockquote>Not all checks involve degrees of failure or success, and in many cases extra degrees only matter in one direction (that is, extra degrees of success give bonuses but extra degrees of failure give no additional penalty, or vice versa). === Classless Point-Buy === Unlike systems like ''Dungeons and Dragons'' or ''Powered By the Apocalypse'', ''Mutants and Masterminds'' doesn't have classes - there are no premade paths to build a character along. While there are archetypes which can be found in the books (such as Powerhouse, Energy Controller, and so on), these are examples of possible ways to build a character, and should not be considered the only or even the best ways to do so. Instead, MnM uses a single large pool of points, called Power Points, that are spent to give your character traits. All parts of your character that cost points are drawn from the same pool - thus, you can build characters in a variety of ways by spending more or less points in different places. An important point to understand how these points are spent is the idea of ranks. When buying any part of your character, you purchase them as ranks - 3 ranks of <u>Strength</u>, 2 ranks of <u>Flight</u>, etc. Each trait costs a certain number of power points per rank, although in some cases this can be modified. === Power Level === While many systems have levels, with characters growing in power as they gain levels, MnM doesn't quite follow this model. Each character has a Power Level, but while Power Level is in some ways similar to levels in other systems, it's very different in others. Most notably, it's not generally expected that characters will grow in Power Level over time. Mechanically speaking, Power Level essentially serves as a balancing mechanism on the combat prowess of a character. Many parts of characters are limited based on Power Level, such that two characters of the same Power Level will be able to played alongside each other without either feeling like they aren't contributing, even if one has the power to move mountains and the other has the power to blow bubbles.<blockquote>Note, however, that this doesn't make it impossible to mix power levels. The most commonly-used balancing for allowing characters of different Power Levels to play together is to allow the lower-PL characters to begin with extra <u>Hero Points</u>, one extra for each PL below the highest-PL character. Sometimes this is instead accomplished by picking a specific Power Level for a campaign or game, with players being able to play any power level up to one above the chosen PL - those below that PL get extra <u>Hero Points</u>, while characters one above that PL start with 0 <u>Hero Points</u> instead of the normal one.</blockquote>Conceptually, Power Level can be considered to represent how broad the impact of a hero is on the world. Street-level heroes like Daredevil who might team up to fight city-level threats are most often considered to be PL8, while characters who can handle city-level threats on their own but team up to fight world-level threats, like the Flash, are usually put at PL10. Meanwhile, characters who can protect an entire world on their own and work together to deal with cosmic level threats, like Superman and Green Lantern, are typically built at PL12.<blockquote>The game is mostly balanced around Power Level 10. While other power levels also work, balancing the game becomes trickier the farther you go from PL10. PL8 and PL12 are the most common picks for stronger and weaker characters because going above or below that range is where the system's balance starts to noticeably break down, but 2 PLs is enough to see a noticeably difference in power and ability.</blockquote>One of the most notable things that Power Level does is set how many Power Points a character begins play with. By default, characters being play with 15 power points times their Power Level - therefore, a PL10 character starts with 150PP, and a PL8 with 120. However, some campaigns give more or less Power Points than the default. For example, Knights of Ironport gives all heroes 150pp at creation regardless of Power Level, while Haven City Heroes gives characters an extra 1pp to begin with (with a restriction on what the PP is used to buy). === Progression === While character levels generally don't change PL, they still advance over the course of a game. Advancement is done by gaining additional power points, which can be spent on parts of your character in the same way as they're spent during creation - thus, characters don't tend to grow more powerful over time, but rather more versatile, acquiring more options and increasing non-PL-limited traits. === Limited Resource Management === Many tabletop systems are balanced around resource management - you have powerful options like high-level spells which can be used a limited number of times, middling-strength options that can be used more often, and weak options that can be used without limit. MnM, however, assumes that you can use your <u>Powers</u> and other abilities freely, without limit. Although there are ways to simulate the resource management of other systems in some ways, they rarely feel quite the same. Even ammunition is handled narratively - a character like the Punisher has infinite ammo, until the GM uses a <u>Complication</u> to declare that he's run out. That said, there are still a few resources that ''do'' need to be managed. ==== Extra Effort and Fatigue ==== As a free action on your turn, a character may use Extra Effort for a variety of purposes - most notably, it can be used to gain an extra <u>Standard Action</u>, to temporarily increase the rank of a power by 1, or to gain a +2 circumstance bonus on a check (or upgrade an existing +2 circumstance bonus to a +5). However, doing so gives you a level of fatigue. In MnM, the fatigue track goes as follows: <u>Fatigued</u>, <u>Exhausted</u>, <u>Incapacitated</u>. Using Extra Effort while Fatigued will result in becoming <u>Exhausted</u>, and doing so while <u>Exhausted</u> will incapacitate you. While <u>Fatigued</u> is a low-impact <u>Condition,</u> <u>Exhausted</u> is much more impactful, so fatigue is a resource to keep track of and spend carefully.<blockquote>Some characters have immunity to Fatigue effects, whether through the <u>Immunity</u> <u>Power</u> or through having <u>Absent Stamina</u>. Most games (although not all) make allowance for these characters to still be able to use Extra Effort - whether by simply giving them Fatigue despite their immunity, or by moving them along a track of <u>Impaired</u>, <u>Disabled</u>, <u>Incapacitated</u> instead of the normal fatigue track.</blockquote> ==== Hero Points ==== Also called [https://www.d20herosrd.com/home/victory-points/ Victory Points], Hero Points can be used for a variety of purposes - most notably, you can spend them to reduce fatigue (essentially allowing a free use of Extra Effort), to reroll a failed check (adding 10 if the number rolled on the die is less than 11), or to get a hint from the GM about a situation. Additionally, some <u>Advantages</u> are fueled by spending a Hero Point. A subset of Hero Points are Luck Points. Luck is an <u>Advantage</u> that can be purchased, with each Luck point allowing you to use one specific use of a Hero Point (chosen when you purchase the rank of Luck). For example, you might buy 3 ranks of Luck: Reroll and 1 rank of Luck: Recovery, to allow you to reroll a failed check three times and reduce fatigue once. Note that you can only have a limited number of ranks of Luck. The limit varies depending on play group, but the most common limits are no more total ranks than your PL, no more ranks of any specific usage than PL/2, a combination of the first two limits, or no more total ranks than your PL/2. Many groups also further limit Luck: Recovery, requiring no more than a single rank of it or banning it entirely - another commonly limited use is Luck: <u>Inspire</u>.<blockquote>Note that the default rules only allow Luck: Reroll. Another book, ''Power Profiles,'' suggests Expanded Luck to allow purchases Luck ranks for other uses of Hero Points - however, as this is only an option, not all groups allow it.</blockquote>Both Hero Points and Luck Points are refreshed at the start of an adventure (not necessarily synonymous with the start of a session) - you start with 1 Hero Point and the number of Luck Points you purchased, unless the GM says otherwise. Additional Hero Points can be earned from <u>Complications</u>, but Luck Points, once spent, are gone until the next adventure. == Parts of a Character == === [https://www.d20herosrd.com/character-creation/3-abilities/ Abilities] === The Abilities are 8 basic measurements of a characters physical and mental abilities. While some things are directly based on one of your Abilities, most parts of the system are a step removed - for example, your bonus in any given <u>Skill</u> is equal to one of your Abilities plus the skill ranks invested into that skill, and <u>Defenses</u> are similarly based on an Ability. For this reason, Abilities can generally be considered to be a sort of flavorful package of other parts of the system.<blockquote>Note that not all abilities are exactly equal in price to the benefits they give. Stamina and Awareness are both worth exactly what they cost - Strength is worth slightly more. The others all cost slightly more than one you get, unless you spend additional points to give them additional uses, which can turn them into discounts. The most egregious examples of this, in most people's estimation, are Dexterity, Intellect, and Presence - however, do note that in all three cases, a character with significant investment into the ability gets a notable discount on price.</blockquote>There are 8 Abilities - Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, Agility, Fighting, Awareness, Intellect, and Presence - which each represent a different part of your character. Generally speaking, a 0 in any Ability is the human average, and peak human is somewhere between 5 and 8 depending on the setting and group you play with.<blockquote>'''Strength''' represents sheer physical force. Your ability to lift and move objects comes from Strength - you can lift, carry, or throw an amount of mass equal to your Strength rank on the [https://www.d20herosrd.com/home/ranks-and-measures/ Ranks and Measures] table, the <u>Damage</u> of Unarmed attacks is equal to your Strength, and your <u>Athletics</u> <u>Skill</u> is based on Strength as well. '''Stamina''' represents health and physical vitality. It contributes directly to your <u>Fortitude</u> and <u>Toughness</u> <u>Defenses</u>. '''Dexterity''' represents how skillful you are with your hands. It contributes to your accuracy with ranged attacks and your Sleight of Hand, as well as how good you are at catching a falling person or object. '''Agility''' represents how skilled you are at moving your entire body quickly and gracefully. It contributes to your <u>Dodge</u> <u>Defense</u>, your <u>Stealth</u> <u>Skill</u>, and your <u>Acrobatics</u> <u>Skill</u>. '''Fighting''' represents your skill at close combat. It contributes to your accuracy with melee attacks and to your <u>Parry</u> <u>Defense</u>. '''Awareness''' represents how perceptive and insightful you are about both yourself and the world, and is sometimes considered to represent wisdom and common sense as well. It contributes to your <u>Will</u> <u>Defense</u>, your <u>Perception</u> <u>Skill</u>, and your <u>Insight</u> <u>Skill</u>. '''Intellect''' represents your intelligence and general knowledge. It contributes to the <u>Investigation</u>, <u>Technology</u>, and <u>Treatment</u> <u>Skills</u>, and is also the default Ability for <u>Expertise</u> <u>Skills</u>. '''Presence''' represents your sheer force of personality and skill at expressing yourself. It contributes to the <u>Deception</u>, <u>Intimidation</u>, and <u>Persuasion</u> <u>Skills</u>.</blockquote>Abilities cost 2pp for each rank, and can be reduced below 0 to earn extra power points.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Having a Strength of 10 costs 20pp, and gives you a +10 base <u>Athletics</u>, a <u>Damage</u> of 10 with unarmed attacks, and lets you lift 25 tons without exerting yourself. '''EXAMPLE''' Having an Awareness of -1 gives you 2pp to spend elsewhere, and means that you have a -1 <u>Perception</u> and <u>Insight</u>.</blockquote> ==== Absent Abilities ==== Not every character has all 8 Abilities. Some are missing one or more - most commonly, undead and robotic characters are often built with Absent Stamina. The exact effects of having an absent Ability varies depending on the Ability in question. === [https://www.d20herosrd.com/character-creation../3-abilities/#DODGE Defenses] === The Defenses are the way your character resists hostile effects of any sort, from fireballs to mind control to the vacuum of space. Each Defense has a base value equal to one of your Abilities, and can be raised from there for 1pp/rank (with the exception of <u>Toughness</u>), and each represents a different way for your character to resist attacks. Defenses are generally used in one of three ways. They can set a DC for an attacker to roll against, they can be rolled as a <u>Resistance Check</u>, or they can be rolled as an <u>Overcome Check</u>.<blockquote>'''Dodge''' is your ability to avoid being hit by ranged attacks and area effects. Anyone making a ranged attack against you must make an attack roll with a DC equal to 10 plus your Dodge, while the rank of an area effect can be reduced by rolling d20+Dodge against 10 plus the rank of the effect. Most area effects have their ranks cut in half prior to the actual <u>resistance check</u> if you pass this check, but a few have no effect at all if you pass the Dodge check. Additionally, Dodge is sometimes used as a <u>resistance check</u> against effects that bind you in place, like grappling or being frozen in place. '''Parry''' is your ability to block or avoid melee attacks. Anyone making a melee attack against you must make an attack roll with a DC equal to 10 plus your Parry. '''Toughness''' is the closest thing to health that the system has - it's used to resist normal Damage after you've been hit. After taking Damage, you must roll Toughness with a DC of 15 plus the rank of the Damage. If you fail the check, you take a stacking -1 penalty to future checks against Damage (also known as a Bruise), and failing by 2 or more degrees has additional penalties. Two degrees of failure will also leave you <u>Dazed</u> for a round, three degrees will leave you <u>Staggered</u>, and failing by four degrees will leave you <u>Incapacitated</u>. '''Fortitude''' is used to resist effects like poison, extreme cold, and electrical shocks. After someone successfully hits you by meeting the DC set by your Dodge or Parry, or after resolving a Dodge check against an AoE, you may be called to roll a Fortitude check against an effect. '''Will''' is used to resist effects like mind control, as well as serving as the default save for 'esoteric' effects like being frozen in time that have no clear resistance among the other Defenses. It's also often used to resist sensory effects, although some sensory effects target Fortitude instead.</blockquote>As mentioned, Toughness cannot be directly raised for 1pp/rank. However, it can be raised through the <u>Defensive Roll</u> <u>Advantage</u> or the <u>Protection</u> <u>Power</u>, both costing 1pp/rank. ==== PL Limits ==== The Defenses are the first place where the PL limits that serve to balance a character's combat traits come into play. Each Defense is paired up against one of the other Defenses, and each pair must not add together to be greater than the character's PL * 2 - however, an individual Defense can be higher than that character's PL as long as the paired defense is lower. The pairings are Dodge and Toughness, Parry and Toughness, and Fortitude and Will. This is essentially designed so that characters who are particularly hard to hurt due to high Toughness must equally be easier to hit, while characters who are harder to hit are easier to hurt when an attack lands, keeping them on roughly an even keel - similarly, characters can't be both particularly good at resisting mental effects and particularly good at resisting physical effects.<blockquote>A common question is why Dodge and Parry are both paired with Toughness, making it more expensive to have a character who is harder to hit than a character who is harder to hurt. This is essentially due to avoiding attacks entirely being more valuable, particularly given that effects resisted by Fortitude or Will are still required to have attack checks that go through Dodge and Parry. High Dodge and Parry therefore makes you better not just as avoiding physical damage, but also at avoiding effects like poisonous gas or knives made from a person's soul.</blockquote>While it's not necessary to have your Defenses high enough to meet the PL cap, it's strongly advised that they should - additionally, it's rarely a good idea to shift them too far in any specific direction. For new players, the recommendation tends to be not to have any Defense higher than PL+2 and no to have any Defense lower than PL-2. In many groups, there's an explicit requirement not to have any Defenses higher than PL*1.5 or lower than PL/2, and another common requirement is that no more than one of your Defensive pairings should be lower than allowed by the PL cap.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Superman is extremely tough, but doesn't bother to avoid attacks much, preferring to tank them to demoralize his opponents. As such, his Toughness is higher than his PL, but his Dodge and Parry are lower. Built at PL12, he has a Toughness of 15, a Dodge of 9, and a Parry of 6. This makes it easier to hit him at close range than at a distance (due to his Parry being lower than Dodge), and much harder to hurt than to hit. 15+9=24, which is the same as his PL*2, and 15+6=21, which is lower, so he falls within his PL limit. '''EXAMPLE''' Daredevil is an extremely acrobatic fighter, but he's not physically tougher than a normal human. As such, his Dodge and Parry are much higher than his PL, and his Toughness is lower. Built at PL8, he has a Dodge and Parry of 12, and a Toughness of 4. 12+4=16, which is equal to his PL*2, so he falls within his PL limit. '''EXAMPLE''' Captain America is agile and excels at defending himself, but he's also much tougher than a normal human. Built at PL8, his Dodge, Parry, and Toughness are all 8, keeping him within his PL limit.</blockquote> === [https://www.d20herosrd.com/4-skills/ Skills] === Much like Defenses, Skills begin with a base value equal to one of the 8 Abilities, and can then be increased - although Skills are much cheaper, and 2 ranks can be purchased for only 1 power point. Note that those ranks don't have to be assigned to the same Skill - you can spent 1pp to increase 2 different Skills by 1 rank each. There are 13 basic skills, plus Close Combat, Ranged Combat, and Expertise, which can be taken multiple times and apply to different things. Most Skills are largely self-explanatory based on their name, but it's a good idea to skim through the Skills page in the SRD, as most Skills have defined uses that are useful to be aware of. Notable defined options are listed below. Some Skills can only be used if you have ranks in them, and are called Trained-Only Skills - others can be used without skill ranks, using the bare Ability as the bonus. However, keep in mind that even for Trained-Only Skills, ranks don't necessarily represent actual training - they may represent natural talent or superpowers, as well. A GM may occasionally allow you to make a Trained-Only Skill without ranks, but when doing so, you cannot achieve a result that would require more than a DC 15 to attain. ===== Scaling a Skill Bonus ===== Generally speaking, +0 is the bonus that an average human has in a skill that they have no exposure to, +1 to +3 is the bonus for an amateur who uses the skill casually (for example, Expertise: Drawing for someone who doodles for fun) +4 to +6 is the bonus for a skill used by an average professional in their everyday life (for example, Investigation for a private eye), +7 to +9 for a skill used by a well-known, famous professional (for example, Deception for a highly-skilled actor like Meryl Streep), and +10 to +12 for a skill used by the most skilled normal humans in the world (for example, Athletics for an Olympic gold-winning sprinter like Usain Bolt). Superhumans, of course, aren't limited to these bonuses. Skills are PL-limited to a maximum of PL plus 10, so a PL8 character can have no skills with bonuses above +18, and a PL10 hits their max at +20. However, many groups - particularly living worlds - set lower caps to prevent skill bloat from discouraging new players. Most commonly, +15 is set as a hard cap for a characters 1-2 defining skills, with +12 as a soft cap for other skills. If a cap below this is set, it's usually +6 or +8 as the cap for skills which aren't part of a character's concept at all. When using a skill in-game, +5 tends to be the minimum at which it can reliably be useful - this is where you'll be hitting a DC 15 more than half the time, and reliably hitting DC 10. +8 tends to be the minimum for most players to feel useful with a skill that's part of a character's concept - this is where you'll only be rolling below DC 10 on a natural 1, and be beating DC 20s more than two thirds of the time. ===== Character-Defined Skills ===== '''Close Combat''' and '''Ranged Combat''' are the Skills which are used to make attack checks with offensive powers like <u>Damage</u> or <u>Affliction</u>. You may have multiple Close Combat Skills or Ranged Combat Skills, each applying to a different category of attack - these categories should be broad enough that they don't apply to just ''one'' attack, but limited enough to not apply to ''all'' possible attacks. Examples include Close Combat: Swords or Ranged Combat: Guns. These Skills are PL-Limited differently than the others - instead of having a maximum bonus of PL plus 10, they're matched with the highest-rank attack they apply to, and the two can't add together to more than PL*2. Every character has access to at least one of each - Close Combat: Unarmed and Ranged Combat: Thrown - even if they have no ranks in either.<blockquote>If you have multiple attacks under the same combat Skill but at different effect ranks - for example, if you have Ranged Combat: Guns, and both a Damage 6 submachine gun and a Damage 10 blast rifle - you can use the Accurate <u>Extra</u> or Inaccurate <u>Flaw</u> to adjust the final attack bonuses for each of those attacks.</blockquote>'''Expertise''' is the other Skill that can be taken multiple times and is defined per-character. Expertise is largely a fill-in-the-blank skill for professional skills (e.g. Expertise: Psychology or Expertise: Police Officer), and covers anything that reasonably falls under that category ''without already falling under another skill'' (e.g. Expertise: Actor would cover things like interacting with fans and negotiating contracts, but wouldn't cover the acting itself, as that would fall under Deception - similarly, Expertise: Police Officer would cover paperwork and knowledge of the law, but not investigations as that would fall under Investigation). Note that while Expertise is based on Intellect by default, an Expertise skill can be based on other Abilities in some circumstances. Most GMs allow you to choose a single Ability to use for an Expertise skill at all times, so long as that Ability is reasonably relevant - e.g. using Awareness for Expertise: Photography. Some, however, instead decree that different tasks within an Expertise may be based on different abilities - e.g. Expertise: Music might be based on Intellect when recalling trivia about a famous composer, but based on Presence when performing. The last important thing to note about Expertise is that it's possible to have a broad Expertise which covers all aspects of multiple more specific Expertises (e.g. Expertise: Science includes both Expertise: Biology and Expertise: Physics). How GMs handle this depends on the campaign, but generally speaking a more specific Expertise will have lower DCs for the same task than a broader Expertise (e.g. Expertise: Science might be able to identify a disease with a DC 20 check, but Expertise: Medicine would be able to do so at only a DC 15).<blockquote>Some GMs use a similar rule for Expertises which overlap with existing skills - e.g. they might allow Expertise: Police Officer to be used to make checks normally handled by Investigation, but with a higher DC than the Investigation skill itself would have.</blockquote>Most characters have at least one Expertise skill, covering their profession when they're not in superhero guise - many have two, covering their profession and their favorite hobby. ==== Notable Uses of Skills ==== * '''Acrobatics''' can be used to instantly stand up from <u>Prone</u>, or to reduce the damage of a fall. * You can make a DC 15 '''Athletics''' check as a free action to increase your normal movement speed by 1 rank, doubling your ground speed for a round. While this has no cost by RAW, many GMs will call for Fortitude checks against fatigue if you do so repeatedly, with some GMs allowing a number of free uses equal to your Stamina before making Fortitude checks at DC 10 and rising by 1 each use, similar to how Suffocation works. * '''Deception''' has two defined combat uses - Feinting and Tricking. Successfully Feinting an opponent makes them <u>Vulnerable</u> to your next attack, while Tricking can force them to waste an action on an unwise act. Both are Standard Actions, but can be made as <u>Move Actions</u> at a -5 penalty. * You can also use '''Deception''' to send an Innuendo, which allows you to pass a message to a friend in a way that's difficult for anyone overhearing you to understand. * '''Intimidation''' has a defined combat use as well - Demoralizing. Successfully Demoralizing an opponent makes them <u>Impaired</u> for a turn or, if you roll well enough, <u>Disabled</u>. Some GMs, although not all, will also allow you to Demoralize as a <u>Move Action</u> at a -5 penalty, much like Feinting and Tricking. An entire group of <u>Minions</u> can be affected by '''Intimidation''' at once. Some GMs, although not all, will allow you to use Deception to Feint or Trick an entire group of minions as well. * '''Insight''' can be used to notice that someone is being influenced, whether by mind control or simple persuasion. * '''Insight''' is also used to resist Demoralizing, Feinting, and Tricking. * '''Treatment''' can be used as a standard action, with a DC of 15, to remove the <u>Dazed</u> or <u>Stunned</u> conditions from a target. This will even revive <u>Incapacitated</u> characters. === [https://www.d20herosrd.com/5-advantages/ Advantages] === Something of a catch-all category, Advantages cost 1pp/rank and usually give new ways to do things or modify how other things you can do work. Like Skills, there are too many to go into detail on all of them in this page, so skim the SRD for details. That said, they tend to fall into one of six categories: * '''Circumstantial Bonus Advantages''' give you a bonus to a roll in a specific situation, or negate a circumstance penalty you would normally face in a specific situation. For example, the Teamwork advantage gives you a +5 bonus when you're making a roll to support an ally, and the Improved Disarm advantage negates the normal circumstance penalty you suffer when trying to Disarm someone. These kinds of advantages are particularly useful because circumstance bonuses are able to break PL caps - if you have Teamwork giving you +5 to hit because you're doing a Team Attack with an ally, you might end up having +10 to hit with a Damage 15 attack, even if you're only PL10. * '''Skill Usage Advantages''' give you an additional way to use a skill. For example, Assessment lets you use your Insight skill to get an idea of what an opponents Defenses are, and Inventor lets you use Technology to make a temporary device that will give you an extra power for a scene - think of when Spiderman makes a special kind of webbing that helps against a particular foe, and then never really brings it out again. Sometimes this comes as an expansion to an existing option - for example, the Redirect Advantage lets you use Trick to convince an enemy to attack you, and instead hit one of their allies standing behind you if they miss. * '''Rekeying Advantages''' move a specific usage of a skill to a fall under a different skill - for example, letting you pick locks with Sleight of Hand instead of Technology, or letting you use Intimidation to Feint an enemy instead of Deception. While there are few of these in the main book, you can propose a new one if it feels appropriate. * '''Hero Point Usages''' give you an extra way to spend a Hero Point. For example, Inspire lets you spend your action and a Hero Point to give all your allies a circumstance bonus to every roll they make until the start of your next turn, and Beginner's Luck lets you spend a hero point to get 5 temporary ranks in a skill you have less than 5 ranks in until the end of a scene. * '''Luck''' is in detail above, in the <u>Limited Resource Management</u> section. * '''Equipment''' is described in detail below. ==== Notable Options ==== * '''Assessment''' functions as described above. * '''Attractive''' represents being noticeably hot above and beyond what's normal for superheroes, and gives a circumstance bonus on certain interactions with those attractive to you: +2 at one rank, +5 at two ranks. * '''Beginner's Luck''' functions as described above. * '''Defensive Roll''' represents knowing how to roll with punches and absorb the force of blows, and increases your Toughness by 1pp/rank - however, note that Toughness gained from this advantage counts as an Active Defense, meaning that it is reduced by the <u>Vulnerable</u> or <u>Defenseless</u> conditions, as well as increased by effects like <u>Favored Environment</u> or <u>Defensive Attack</u>. * '''Eidetic Memory''' allows you to make Expertise checks with Skills you aren't trained in as if you were trained, but only to recall information and answer questions. Additionally (and separately), you have a +5 circumstance bonus to remember things you've experienced, or resist memory-altering or -erasing effects. * '''Evasion''' gives you a circumstance bonus on Dodge checks against Area effects: +2 at one rank, +5 at two ranks. * '''Fast Grab''' allows you to make a <u>Grapple</u> attempt as a free action after successfully hitting with an Unarmed attack. Note that this is a very powerful option, and not all tables allow it. * '''Favored Environment''' gives you a +2 bonus to either your attack checks or Active Defenses (Dodge and Parry, as well as any Toughness gained from Defensive Roll) when you are in a chosen environment. Note that this should not be an environment you're in consistently. Some GMs rule that if your character can produce your Favored Environment (e.g. a weather manipulator with Favored Environment: Storms), Favored Environment only functions when you didn't create the environment - others simple ban the combination, requiring you to instead take a <u>Flaw</u> on your attacks and/or Defenses to reduce them when not in that environment. * '''Improved Critical''' allows you to score a <u>Critical Hit</u> on a wider range of rolls than just natural 20s. Note that this is a very powerful option, and many tables place restrictions on it. * '''Inspire''' functions as described above. * '''Interpose''' allows you to, once per round, take an attack that would have hit another character. * '''Jack of All Trades''' allows you to make skill checks with Trained-Only skills, even if you have no ranks. Note, however, that this doesn't count as being Trained, so you are limited to DC 15 results unless your table rules otherwise. Many tables allow it to count as being Trained, but impose a limit on your Intellect when you have Jack of All Trades in order to prevent high-Intellect characters with Jack of All Trades overshadowing other characters' skills. * '''Second Chance''' allows you to reroll a failed check against a specific hazard, such as Fire Damage or Mind Control. * '''Setup''' allows you to grant the benefits of successfully Feinting an enemy to one or more allies, potentially multiplying the effect of your Feint. * '''Skill Mastery''' allows you to roll a specific non-combat skill as a Routine Check regardless of the situation, meaning that instead of rolling a d20 you simply take the result of 10 plus your bonus. Note that if this is not enough to pass the DC of the check, you may still roll. * '''Takedown''' allows you to make an extra attack after incapacitating a <u>Minion</u>, and continue doing so as long as there are <u>Minions</u> to target and you continue to defeat them. One rank allows you to do this as long as each target is next to the previous target, and you don't move - two ranks allows you to move between attacks, and doesn't require the targets to be next to each other. * '''Teamwork''' functions as described above. * '''Well-Informed''' lets you make Persuasion or Investigation check to retroactively have already investigated or heard gossip about a person or group you have only just met. ==== Trap Options ==== * '''Chokehold''' is flavorful, but very rarely usable due to the circumstances required for its DC to become high enough to fail. * '''Daze''', regardless of Skill used, is a waste - it trades a standard action for a ''chance'' of taking another character's ''move'' action, which can be done just as effectively with Damage while also adding Bruises. * '''Diehard''' is extremely flavorful, but Mutants and Masterminds is a system where death is extremely rare. It is therefore a trap in any table where lethality isn't common. * '''Quick Draw''', along with '''Benefit: Ambidexterity''', solves a problem that almost no GMs will bring up. The exception is if a GM allows you to use Quick Draw to pick up an object and immediately throw it as an attack. * '''Trance''' is flavorful, but very rarely usable. === Equipment === Although technically an Advantage, it's complex enough to get its own section. Each PP spent on Equipment gives you 5 Equipment Points to spend on items used in your heroic character which have material, mechanical benefits. You ''don't'' have to pay for things that aren't involved in your heroing, so long as they're stuff that's normal for a person of your level of wealth to have. So an average person doesn't need to spent points on their apartment or a car, and a wealthy hero doesn't need to pay to have a big house. However, a person ''without'' wealth would still need to pay to own, say, a mansion.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE:''' Bruce Wayne doesn't need to pay for Wayne Manor, but he does need to pay for the Batcave. He doesn't pay for his private jet, but he does pay for the Batmobile.</blockquote>Basic equipment costs the same amount of EP as a superpower with the same effect would cost if built with PP. However, the 80% discount comes with significant downsides. Not only does Equipment represent actual physical items that can be stolen, broken, or just not on you, but a GM can interfere with Equipment without giving you a resistance check or a Hero Point to bypass it. Additionally, Equipment needs to be something relatively mundane in the setting, enough that a non-superhero could reasonably purchase it.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE:''' In a medieval setting, a pistol wouldn't be allowed as Equipment, but a sword would. In a modern setting, a pistol would be allowed but an energy rifle wouldn't. In a science fiction setting, anything from energy rifles to spacesuits might be equipment</blockquote>Headquarters and Vehicles are the exception to this rule, as they can be non-mundane - Vehicles can be things like flying carpets or the Quinjet, and Headquarters can be places like a wizard's moving castle or the Watchtower. However, unlike other Equipment, you're expected to not have access to your Headquarters and Vehicle at all times. If your character is constantly using a flying broomstick to fly, it should generally be built as a <u>Device</u> rather than as a Vehicle. ==== Vehicles ==== Vehicles have an additional limitation in how they take damage. If they fail a Toughness check against <u>Damage</u> by two degrees, in addition to being Bruised they lose a rank of a <u>Power</u> or one of their Features - if they would fail by three degrees, they stop working entirely, and four degrees of failure destroy them completely. This takes the place of <u>Daze</u> and <u>Stagger</u> in the normal damage chart.<blockquote>An option in ''Gadget Guides'' is the Durable extra, which doubles the EP cost of a Vehicle in return for allowing it to take damage like a normal creature - that is, they don't lose anything at two degrees of failure, their speed is halved at three, they only stop working at four degrees of failure or when taking three degrees of failure twice, and they aren't entirely destroyed unless they suffer what would be lethal damage.</blockquote>The [https://www.d20herosrd.com/7-gadgets-gear/vehicles/ SRD has charts] to determine the basic traits of a vehicle, as well as examples of 1 point Features like being able to be piloted remotely. Other <u>Powers</u>, such as whatever method of Movement it grants, are paid for as if it was any other piece of Equipment - 5 EP to get a power costing 5 points.<blockquote>Note that Vehicles are assumed to provide any and all life support necessary for their passengers to operate within their normal environment, at no cost. For example, a spaceship provides clean, breathable air and a normal range of temperature for its passengers without having to pay for it. However, vehicles that do so in environments other than their normal environment - such as an otherwise-normal car that still provides breathable air while underwater - must pay for the <u>Immunity</u> <u>Power</u> to do so.</blockquote>Mounts and steeds such as a magical pegasus are often best built as vehicles, using a free feature called Muscle-Powered. The full details of this modifier are in ''Time Traveler's Codex'', but can be summed up as "it's remote-controlled for free, is piloted using interaction skills instead of Vehicles, it can be targeted by and can benefit from interaction-based abilities and effects like Leadership and Demoralization, and its top speed is assumed to include it pushing itself to its limit, so it can can only hit that speed for a limited time (but can go farther at half speed or indefinitely at a quarter speed)". ==== Headquarters ==== Headquarters are even cheaper than Vehicles - even powers only cost a single point, albeit with strict restrictions on total cost. This is because, while heroes aren't expected to have access to their Vehicles all times, useful access to a Headquarters during an adventure is even rarer. Similar to Vehicles, the [https://www.d20herosrd.com/7-gadgets-gear/installations/ SRD has charts] for basic traits and example Features. ==== Blending Vehicles and HQs ==== Some vehicles and HQs blend the line between the two - there's a Headquarters feature called Moveable which lets it be moved from place to place, and large enough Vehicles can have features normally exclusive to HQs, like having living quarters. The distinction between them is essentially a matter of how often it moves and how impactful it is. An HQ moves no more than once or twice a game, only to change settings - a Vehicle is used for things like chase scenes and action sequences.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Your characters travel through space in a large starship serving as their home. When it's attacked by pirates, one person flies the ship and leads the pirates into an asteroid field, while other characters man gunning stations to fire on the pirates. Their starship is a Vehicle with Headquarters features. '''EXAMPLE''' Your characters travel through space in a large starship serving as their home. When it's attached by pirates, the pirates board the skip and the characters fight them within the ship, controlling features like the artificial gravity systems and life support in order to fight back. Their starship is a Headquarters with the Moveable feature.</blockquote>The easiest way to decide whether a vehicle which straddles the line between these is to ask this question - if attacked, does the vehicle serve as a moveable piece within the battle, or is the vehicle itself the location where the battle takes place? === Powers === Powers are the most complex part of a character, because they're extremely customizable thanks to the different pieces that go into them. Every Power is made up of 2 to 4 pieces - Effects, Extras, Flaws, and Descriptors - and by using these you can create nearly any superpower you can image. ===== The Building Blocks of a Power ===== '''Effects''' are the basic mechanical building blocks of a power - they describe the default mechanical description of what a power does. For example, the Damage Effect forces a target to make a Toughness check or take the penalties described above, in the Defenses section. Effects each have a basic cost-per-rank, but many effects may have a different cost-per-rank from others. For example, Damage is 1pp/rank, but Flight is 2pp/rank. '''Extras''' and '''Flaws''' can be added to an effect to modify the mechanical aspects of an Effect. For example, Increased Range lets an effect that normally functions in melee, like Damage, to be used at a distance, and Distracting gives you the <u>Vulnerable</u> <u>Condition</u> until your next turn after using the power. Extras increase the cost of an effect, and Flaws reduce it. In both cases, they can either be '''per-rank''' - so they adjust the cost of each rank of the effect - or '''flat''' - adding or subtracting a flat price on top, regardless of how many ranks you have. More powerful extras/limiting flaws tend to be per-rank. Flat extras are generally more flavorful things, like Indirect, which lets an attack originate from somewhere other than yourself. Finally, '''Descriptors''' show the non-mechanical flavor of an effect. They generally come in one of three types: '''Source Descriptors''' show where the power behind an effect comes from (for example, Magic), '''Medium Descriptors''' show what transfers the effect (for example, Electrical), and '''Effect Descriptors''' show what the effect actually causes (for example, Curse). Not all powers have all three Descriptors as they often overlap, and many powers have more than three - those three options are, however, the ones that should be considered when choosing descriptors. Descriptors have no mechanical effect on their own, but they help determine how powers interact with each other or with the environment. A laser might not need the Ricochet extra to be allowed to bounce off a mirror or shoot through a window, for example - but conversely, a fireball doesn't get points back for being unable to burn in a vacuum. Descriptors often help distinguish two powers that might otherwise be mechanically identical. Laser vision and throwing fireballs might both be Ranged Damage, but the different descriptors mean that they can do different things and have different limits. Additionally, you can use a power with appropriate descriptors to counter another effect. For example, if a building is on fire and you have a Gust of Wind power, you might be able to use that to counter the flames and extinguish the fire. Lastly, it should be noted that some powers work based on descriptors. Immunity is the big one here - when you buy ranks of Immunity, you choose specific descriptors to be immune to. For example, Immunity: Electrical makes you immune to stuff like lightning bolts or tasers. A Power, then, is a single unit that collects these together and gives it a name. A Call Lightning power that magicall summons a bolt of lightning from the sky could be built as Damage with Increased Range, Limited to Outdoors, and Indirect 3 (Each strike originating from anywhere in the sky, and striking directly below its originating point), with the Electric, Magical, and Weather descriptors. The basic concept, in short, is that you build what you want a power to do mechanically by using effects, modified by extras and flaws as appropriate, then add descriptors to flavor it.<blockquote>Not everyone bothers to explicitly list out the descriptors for a power. This is usually fine - descriptors are often implied by the name or description of a power. It is, however, important that others, especially the GM, are able to understand the concept of a power well enough to infer what it can and cannot do - descriptors are one tool of many which helps do so.</blockquote> ==== Notable Powers ==== * '''Affliction''' temporarily imposes <u>Conditions</u> on the target, chosen when you build the power. By picking different <u>Conditions</u> to impose and different Defenses as the resistance check, Affliction can be used for a wide variety of powers - most attacks that aren't basic <u>Damage</u> are an Afflictions. * '''Create''' temporarily creates physical objects in a shape you choose. It's most obviously used for Green Lantern-like powers, but can also be used for things like growing plants or reshaping the environment. Note that it can usually be used to attack by creating and dropping an object onto someone, or by trying to trap someone. * '''Damage''' is a power that everyone has access to as part of their Strength. Notably, you can set Damage as Strength-Based - meaning that the effective rank of the Damage is equal to your Strength plus the ranks of the Damage power - for effects like claws or magical swords. Anything which simply hurts the target is likely Damage. * '''Deflect''' is a power used to actively defend other targets from attacks. * '''Healing''' lets you remove penalties from Damage from yourself or other characters by spending an action, and with appropriate descriptors can also provide additional saves against and/or circumstance bonuses against Afflictions. It's also a very powerful effect, which many tables place additional restrictions on. * '''Immunity''' allows you to automatically succeed on resistance checks against effects matching a specific descriptor. * '''Move Object''' is used for telekinesis and similar effects, including allowing you to <u>Grapple</u>. * '''Protection''' adds directly to your Toughness, without counting as an Active Defense as the Defensive Roll advantage does. * '''Regeneration''' lets you remove penalties from Damage from yourself without spending actions. Like Healing, it's very powerful and often restricted. * '''Sense''' allows your character to detect things beyond the human normal. Note that Senses do ''not'' allow you to automatically detect things without fail - you still need to make Perception checks to find them, and characters can hide things with Stealth or Sleight of Hand (or, with appropriate descriptors, spotting using Insight vs Deception). * '''Sense''' is also the power used to buy upgrades for existing senses - for example, navigating well enough by sound to echolocate, or being able to see infrared light. * '''Weaken''' is the last of the attacking effects (along with Affliction, Damage, Move Object, and - arguably - Create), and can be used for draining effects. * Each rank of '''Variable''' gives you 5pp that can be reallocated as an action on your turn, into anything that fits the inherent limitation of that Variable power chosen when you buy the power. For example, a shapeshifted might have Variable for physical traits, meaning that they can't raise their Intellect with those PP, but they can grow wings to fly with and sharpen their eyes to see better. Note that Variable introduces at a lot of at-the-table complexity, and most new players should therefore avoid it. ==== Notable Extras and Flaws ==== * '''Affects Objects''' allows an effect which would normally not affect objects due to being resisted by Will or Fortitude to affect them, with the object typically failing to the worst degree of the effect automatically. This is most often used for effects like a disintegration ray, built as a Fortitude-Resisted Weaken Toughness. * '''Alternate Resistance''' lets you change the resistance check of an attack, most often used for effects like a psychic attack, built as Will-Resisted Damage. Note that Bruises apply to ''all'' checks against Damage, regardless of the resistance check of the attack that caused the Bruise - a Bruise from a psychic blow resisted by Will still gives a penalty to resist a Toughness-resisted gunshot. * '''Area''' lets an effect that normally targets only one person instead target everyone in an area. Area effects don't have an attack roll, and are therefor capped at Rank=PL rather than at Accuracy+Rank=PL*2, as described above in the ''Dodge'' section of ''Defenses.'' There are multiple options for the shape of the area. Note that unless you have the <u>Selective</u> extra, you must affect ''all'' targets in the area, including allies and civilians. As such, smaller areas (such, Line, Cone, and Shapeable) inherently pay for some of their smaller area by being easier to avoid hitting allies with. Note for Shapeable specifically that some GMs may require the Precise extra to be able to hit only certain combatants in very close quarters, such as one of two targets <u>Grappling</u> each other. * Considered separately from full Area is the option to have the Area extra on only some of the ranks of an effect. '''Partial Area''' effects still have an attack roll, but if they miss, the target still takes the effect of the Area as if they had successfully passed the Dodge check against an Area effect of the ranks of Partial Area. That is, a Damage 10 effect with 8 ranks of Area would still do Damage 4 to its target if it missed, in addition to all other targets in the affected area making dodge checks as if subjected to a normal Area Damage 8 effect. * '''Increased Range''' lets a melee effect be used at a distance. * A second rank of Increased Range, or a single rank when applied to an already-ranged effect, makes an effect '''Perception Range.''' Perception Range effects have no accuracy roll and are therefore capped at Rank=PL, but make up for it by hitting automatically, so long as you can perceive the target with an Accurate Sense. * '''Multiattack''' ''doesn't'' give you additional attacks, but it allows an effect to be used to attack multiple targets in an arc at once, or to get a circumstance bonus to its rank if it hits a single target with extra degrees of success on the attack roll. Note that unless you have the <u>Selective</u> extra, you must affect ''all'' targets in the arc, including allies and civilians. * '''Selective''' lets you choose specific targets to not be affected by an effect, most often used for Area effects. It can also be used to exclude certain targets from a Multiattack arc, the spread of a Contagious power, or to refrain from striking someone with the second hit of a Secondary Effect power. * '''Activation''' requires you to spend an action (either a <u>Move Action</u> for -1pp, or a <u>Standard Action</u> for -2 pp) to bring one or more powers online before they can be used. This is particularly useful for creating an ''Alternate Form,'' a set of powers available only after 'transforming' by activating them - for example, Billy Batson would have all of Shazam's powers locked behind an Activation Flaw. Note that if you have multiple powers that are all activated by a single action, that is only a single application of the Activation flaw. If each power has Activation and the resulting discount, they must be activated separately. * '''Limited''' is a generic, customizable Flaw used when no specific Flaw works, for -1/rank. A Limited should ideally make an effect about half as useful - less limiting flaws are better done as <u>Quirks</u> or <u>Complications</u>. * '''Noticeable''' allows a permanent effect to be noticed - for example, a Protection effect that becomes obvious due to thick scales coating you. * '''Quirk''' is a generic, customizable Flaw similar to Limited, but as a flat -1 instead of -1/rank. Some Quirks are work multiple ranks of Quirk. ==== Devices ==== The Removable Power turns things into Devices - one or more Powers granted by a physical object, like a set of power armor or a magical sword. It comes in two levels - Easily Removable items are subject to being <u>Smashed</u> or <u>Disarmed</u>, and Removable items are only subject to being <u>Smashed</u>. For an extra 1pp (after the discount), a Device can be made indestructible - however, only Easily Removeable Items should be Indestructible. An item that can neither be <u>Disarmed</u> nor <u>Smashed</u> is better represented as a <u>Complication</u>. The distinction between a Device and Equipment is twofold. First, Devices are Powers and thus much more difficult for the GM to interfere with. Secondly, Devices do not have to be mundane - you can have magic swords even in a modern-day setting where normal people have no magic. ==== Arrays ==== One of the most important concepts to understand with powers is Arrays. Essentially, powers that are conceptually the same ability used in different ways can be grouped together. You pay the full price of the most expensive power in the Array, then 1 only power point for each other power. The limit is that you can only use one power at time - while grabbing someone with telekinesis, you wouldn't be able to switch to another power in the array to make a shield of force around an ally while still maintaining the grab.<blockquote>By paying an extra 1PP for the most expensive power and 2 PP instead of 1 PP for each other power in the array, you can have a Dynamic Array. This allows you to use multiple powers within an array at once, but only as many ranks as you can pay for by moving around the PP of the most expensive power. For example, if arrayed between a 2pp/rank Flight Power at rank 9 (total cost 18pp) and a 3pp/rank Move Object power at rank 6 (total cost 18pp), a Dynamic Array could allow you to use 4 ranks of Move Object (total cost 12pp) and 3 ranks of Flight (total cost 6pp) at once (total cost 12+6=18pp). You can even have some entries in an array be dynamic while others are not - e.g. a character might be able to mix Move Object and Flight, but only be able to use an Immunity: Bullets power at full ranks. Like Variable, Dynamic Arrays introduce at-the-table complexity that most new players should avoid.</blockquote>They're most often used for combat powers, as attacking powers tend to be expensive. Arrays can also be used for movement powers - however, they generally shouldn't be mixed between the two. More passive powers like Senses should generally not be arrayed, even with other passive powers, but this is table-dependent.<blockquote>The '''Alternate Effect''' extra is what makes Arrays possible.</blockquote> === Complications === Lastly, Complications are narrative flaws and issues that plague your character. This includes everything from "I take extra damage from fire" to "I have a phobia of spiders". Most notably, you should have a Motivation Complication which represents why your character does heroic things - theoretically, this Motivation Complication is why you begin each adventure with a Hero Point.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' ''Enemy: The Joker.'' Batman has a great many foes, but the Joker stands above all others - sometimes, the Joker will even strike at him in the middle of another adventure entirely. '''EXAMPLE''' ''Motivation: Responsibility''. Spider-Man has been taught that with great power comes great responsibility, and acts as a superhero because he believes it's his responsibility to help others when he can. '''EXAMPLE''' ''Power Loss: Emotions''. The Hulk's strength comes from his anger. If he becomes calm, he may transform back into Bruce Banner without intending to, and not be able to transform back - or simply find his incredible strength and durability waning. '''EXAMPLE''' ''Quirk: Calling Card''. Zorro always leaves his mark, a Z-shaped scar or slash, when he fights crime. Authorities or enemies chasing him down can easily tell if he's done something and where he's been - and an enemy could easily frame him by mimicking it. '''EXAMPLE''' ''Weakness: Yellow.'' The Green Lantern's ring has a flaw in it, a weakness to the color yellow. Yellow items and attacks can ignore his Force Field power, striking him as if he had only his normal Toughness.</blockquote> == How to Build a Character == === Broad Strokes === Decide on the broad-strokes concept of your characters - are they a superman type? A billionaire possessed by a demon? An alien cop with a collection of advanced tech? Get a mental image of the character, so you can figure out what makes sense from them to have and not to have. === Key Elements === Build the key elements of your character - the absolute minimum, the things they ''must'' have in order to fit your vision. That might be Powers, Advantage, Skills, a mix... the key here is that they're the things the character can't do without, regardless of price.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE:''' Daredevil should buy Sense powers here. '''EXAMPLE:''' Batman should buy the Batmobile and Batcave, as well as Benefit: Wealth 5. '''EXAMPLE:''' The Hulk should buy his Strength up to around PL+2, with extra Enhanced Strength (Limited to Lifting) to taste.</blockquote> === Defenses === Decide what the balance of Defenses you want for the character is, and buy them up to that point. Defenses are necessary and can be expensive, so you should buy them early. === Combat === Buy your combat stuff - at least one attack, although ideally you'll have a way of targeting Toughness, Fortitude, and Will. Not all concepts can, but it's good to be able to hit enemies hard in their weaknesses. You usually want to buy combat powers as an array, even if you only by one of them to start. This includes buying the accuracy for those attacks, whether they come from the Skills, the Accurate Extra, Advantages, or some mix of the above. Recall that Perception Ranged attacks and Area attacks have no need for accuracy. === Movement === Buy a movement power, if appropriate. Something like Speed, Flight, or even Leaping. Not all heroes need this - recall that, at minimum, all heroes can move at Speed 0, and can use Athletics to increase that to Speed 1 as a free action. If your character will have movement granted by Equipment - a grapnel gun or flying broomstick, for example - buy that here as well. === Abilities === Buy Abilities. Make sure that you reduce the corresponding Defenses as you buy Abilities that contribute to them - you don't want to screw up the balance you decided on - and similarly reduce the accuracy of your attacks if you increase your Fighting or Dexterity. If you have any Strength-Based Damage powers and increase your Strength, reduce the rank of Damage, as well. === Skills === Buy the non-combat Skills you want. Don't go above a total of +10 in any skill, at this point. === Advantages === Buy advantages here. Don't go too crazy with Advantages at this point - stick with the basics that make sense for your character. === Passive Powers === Most notable here are Senses and Immunities, but any non-combat power with mechanical effect can go here. === Flavor === Things that are just plain fun, even if they aren't all that impactful. === Budgeting === Don't go crazy with spending as you do this, but you shouldn't worry too much about the point total, either. Only once you've gone through all of the above should you worry about budgeting. Here are some guidelines for where to look depending on whether you've spent too much or too little, but also feel free to ask for suggestions on what else to buy or what to cut. ==== Spending More ==== If you're less than 10 pp under budget, you probably want to focus on skills and advantages, which are impactful for relatively cheap. If you're less than 25 pp under budget, take a look at passive powers and abilities, which tend to be more expensive. If you're more than 25 pp under budget, your concept might be a bit narrow or underpowered - consider expanding the capabilities of your character by adding an extra wrinkle. Give your supersoldier some leadership skills and set them up as a social face, give your alien some advanced tech, etc. ==== Spending Less ==== If you're less than 5pp over budget, look at cutting from skills and advantages, and maybe the abilities associated with defenses. If you're less than 15pp over budget, look at cutting extras from your combat powers, reducing the rank of movement powers, and cutting passive powers entirely. If you're more than 20pp over budget, your concept might be too broad for a starting character - consider shifting to narrow their abilities. Drop most of  the leadership skills and let them grow into that role, for example. However, you may also simply be building things poorly (for example, not making use of arrays), and be able to rebuild a little to get things more cheaply. This is particularly likely if you're 30 or more PP over budget. == The Game In Play == === Actions === A round consists of turns, each made up of actions. On your turn, you have one '''Standard Action''' and one '''Move Action''' - you can use your Standard Action on something that normally costs a Move Action (for example, Teleporting twice), but not the other way around. Most combat options use a Standard Action. In addition to a Standard Action and a Move Action, you also have Free Actions, as many as the GM allows you to use. Both on your turn and off it, you have access to Reactions - however, the only Reactions characters can take without purchasing a Power or Advantage that gives one is to spend a Hero Point or to <u>Ready an Action.</u> === Conditions === Most often imposed by the Affliction Power, Conditions impose limitations or penalties on a character. The most notable ones are: * Impaired and Disabled (which impose a -2 or -5 penalty on all rolls, respectively) * Vulnerable (which halves your Dodge and Parry, as well as any ranks of Defensive Roll you have) * Defenseless (which entirely removes your Dodge and Parry, as well as any ranks of Defensive Roll you have. It also allows enemies to attack you as routine check, and to get an automatic Critical Hit if they roll and hit you) * Dazed (which limits you to only a Standard Action on your turn rather than both a Standard Action and a Move Action. When you become Dazed by Damage, it lasts only one turn. * Stunned (which prevents you from taking any actions, including Free Actions). Some Conditions are combinations of other Conditions. For example, Exhausted means that you are both Fatigued and Impaired. === Strategy === The most important thing to remember when playing is that the game is ''not'' about fighting villains - it's about being a superhero. Sometimes that means fighting villains, but often there are other objectives that are more important - for example, rescuing civilians from a collapsing building should take priority over attacking the villain who knocked it down. Additionally, remember that teamwork is very powerful in MnM. Characters with no chance of defeating a powerful villain can work together to take them out easily - which is, of course, why the villains should work to divide their attention. Lastly, remember that you have a number of options beyond the Powers on your sheet. ==== Options to Remember ==== * You can adjust the accuracy and effect ranks of powers that have attack rolls using the Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, and Power Attack Maneuvers. Remember that you can only trade off by up to 2 points without the relevant advantage, and that you can only apply one Maneuver to an attack without special allowance from the GM. * Successfully Feinting an opponent - whether with Deception or with Intimidation thanks to the Startle Advantage - is a good lead-up to a powerful but low-accuracy attack. The Set-Up advantage allows you to pass the benefits of the Feint on to allies who may have more powerful attacks or a lower Skill bonus to Feint with. * Successfully Demoralizing an opponent - whether with Intimidation or with Deception thanks to the Taunt advantage - is like temporarily adding 2 Bruises to them, ''and'' making them worse at doing everything else. * The Aid action can be used to make an ally's next attack significantly more accurate (allowing for a similar benefit as when Feinting), with the benefit of not being a Maneuver - meaning that it can be combined with Power Attack. * Team Attacks allow you to work with an ally to make a significantly more powerful attack than either of you could manage alone, as well as gaining additional accuracy if you have the Teamwork Advantage. * Minions are a category of enemy with special interactions with the Takedown power, and who take the greatest possible degree of failure from any effect they fail the resistance check of by even by one degree. Additionally, you can attack them as a routine action - doing so is often an excellent way to deal with them quickly, particularly if you have a power with Multiattack and/or the Takedown Advantage. * Grappling in MnM is both much more powerful and much less complicated than in many systems. It relatively easily imposes Vulnerable and/or Defenseless, is often difficult to escape from once established, and prevents escaping. Extremely strong characters, along the lines of Superman or the Hulk, can use grapples with incredible effectiveness. * You can Ready an Action to take place as a Reaction once before your next turn, which may be the only way to target a teleporter or speedster who rushes in and out of reach. == Guidelines for Unclear Options == The following are guidelines for how to deal with parts of the system with little or insufficient guidance. === Pricing Guidelines === The Feature power can be used to gain circumstance bonuses to certain rolls, but should not do so at greater efficiency than Skill Ranks. General guidelines are as follows: * A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill, or a particular use of multiple skills, only in a limited set of circumstances should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. Compare to the Attractive advantage to see if the circumstances are limited enough. * A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances, or any use of a skill in a limited set of circumstances, should give a +2 bonus at 1pp and a +5 bonus at 2pp. * A Feature that gives a non-circumstantial bonus to a particular use of a skill in any circumstances, or any use of a skill in limited circumstances, should be a Limited Enhanced Skill, giving 4 skill ranks for that specific use for 1pp, rather than a Feature. * A Feature that gives a circumstance bonus to any use of a skill in any circumstance should be an Enhanced Skill, rather than a Feature. Immunity can be used for descriptors outside those explicitly listed in the book. General guidelines to the price of these are as follows: * 1PP: descriptors that are primarily flavor, or immunity to individual people's powers. * 2PP: descriptors that are particularly rare, or subsets of 5pp immunities (e.g. Immunity to a specific Interaction skill or emotion, rather than all Interaction skills or emotions). * 5pp: descriptors that are common, but only as used for a single power (e.g. Damage of a specific descriptor, a particular type of Affliction such as entrapment or sensory attacks). * 10pp: descriptors that are common, as used for multiple powers. * 20pp: extremely common descriptors that subsume multiple 10pp descriptors. Note that Slashing and Piercing count as a single 20pp descriptor. === When to Use Different Options === MnM has a number of ways to build similar effects using different powers. Here are some common points of confusion ==== Protecting Others: Create, Deflect, Affects Others Immunity? ==== Create should be used when your power can provide shelter from area attacks, or when it can be broken by a sufficiently powerful attack.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' A magical forcefield that blocks all attacks, until shattered by a powerful strike.</blockquote>Deflect should be used when your power can redirect attacks, or when it can be pierced by a sufficiently accurate attack.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' A magical shield that darts around an area to intercept attacks, but may fail to block a strike that comes to quickly.</blockquote>Affects Others Immunity should be used when your power is unbreakable, but only functions against a limited subset of attacks.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' A magical ward against fire, but which doesn't protect against bullets.</blockquote> ==== Extreme Talent: Skills or Powers? ==== A number of forms of extreme talent can be represented as either Skills or as Powers. Parkour is one of the most common examples, possible to build either as simple high Athletics or as a rank of Speed, Leaping, and Wall-Crawling - another common example is heightened senses, possible as either high Perception or as various Sense options. The reason to build with Powers rather than Skills generally comes down to one of two reasons. First is consistency - as most power-built options of this type don't call for rolls, a character with high Athletics will have a chance to fail while climbing a wall in a way that a character with Wall-Crawling doesn't. Second is adding options that the skills alone don't grant - no point at the Perception skill will let you echolocate, but Senses 2: Accurate Hearing will. The reason to build with Skills rather than Powers generally comes down to wanting the other benefits provided by that skill which the power version doesn't give, often due to being more focused - Senses: Extended Vision allows you to see much farther away, but it doesn't let you spot things around you as well as +10 Perception does. Similarly, while a power-built Parkour power may allow you to climb faster than simple Athletics, it doesn't help you escape from Grabs. In the end, choosing between them largely comes down to personal preference. ==== Draining Effects: Affliction or Weaken? ==== Affliction (Impaired->Disabled->Transformed, limited to the specific trait being drained) is a way of representing draining attacks that can sometimes be more appropriate than Weaken. Affliction is best used when the drained trait would return all at once rather than slowly over time. ==== Versatility: Variable or an Array? ==== The Variable power should only be used when it is necessary for a concept. Keep in mind that most concepts who are designed to be versatile are able to accomplish that versatility using Power Stunts. Examples of concepts which may have genuine need for Variable include Power Mimics, versatile Shapeshifters, and focused Inventors. One way to determine if Variable is necessary is to try building the most common sets that Variable would use, then compare the cost of an array including all of those options to the price of a Variable that covers all of those options. As a general guideline, Variable is only cheaper if the array would include at least 2-3 options for each rank of Variable. Another way to see if Variable is necessary is to consider that same list of common sets, and try to come up with scenarios where you might need to use something outside of those prebuilt options. If you have difficulty imagining scenarios not covered by those sets, Variable is likely not necessary. ==== Inventors: the Invention advantage, Devices, or Slow Variable (Devices)? ==== Some characters have the skillset to create impressive works of technology or magical relics as an integral part of their concept. However, there are multiple ways to represent this. Note that these options are not exclusive. The Invention advantage best represents a character creating a new, temporary invention during a storyline to counter a specific threat. As it is relatively cheap - and also difficult to use in a living world setting - it is best taken as a flavor purchase, often on top of the other options. The Removable flaw, which turns a set of powers into a Removable or Easily Removable Device, best represents a specific set of items that are integral to a character's concept. If a character has the same inventions each time they appear, those inventions are most likely Devices. Slow Variable (Devices) gives a character a selection of PP which can be used to buy any Devices, reassigning them during downtime. If a character switches between different devices often, bringing different options to different appearances, those devices most likely come from a Slow Variable power. ==== Ridiculous Weapon Skills: Devices or Powers with a Quirk? ==== There are two ways to build a swordsman with ridiculous weapon skills, such as deflecting bullets. Either his sword is special, or they are. This also applies for characters like Green Arrow, Deadshot, and similar. If the skills are only usable with one particular weapon - due to a spiritual bonding, the weapon's inherent magical properties, a psychological belief, or any other reason - they should be built with a Device. If the skills are usable with any weapon of the appropriate type, they should be built as Powers with a -1 Quirk: Requires a [weapon]. The character will then either have a Device or a piece of Equipment which provides access to that Power. ==== Utility Belts, Guns, and Similar: Devices or Equipment? ==== The Removable Flaw should be used to create a Device whenever one or more of the following is true: * The item isn't obtainable by an average wealthy person in the setting (e.g. a magical sword in a setting with magic kept secret from normal society). * The item is unbreakable by ordinary means (e.g. a shield made from adamantium). * The item uses technology with no theoretical basis under current understanding of physics (e.g. a personal teleporter, even if a rich person in the setting might have access to one). * The item can only be used by one person and no one else, under normal circumstances. * The item is important enough to the character's concept that taking it from them is a serious hindrance not to their ability to function, but to their ability to fulfill their concept. * The item is not a prebuilt piece of Equipment out of the book, and is built with a rank of 7 or more. If none of the above is true, the item may be built as Equipment. ==== Unbreakable Items: Devices or Complications? ==== The Removable Flaw comes with three major drawbacks - that they can be destroyed, that they can be disarmed, and that they may not always be present. The first two drawbacks are mechanical, and the third is narrative. Removable Devices can be destroyed, but not stolen - Easily Removable Devices can be both destroyed and broken. However, you can pay extra to make a Device Indestructible. An Easily Removable Device can be Indestructible, if descriptors justify it. A Removable Device should never be Indestructible - if it would be, instead simply build it as a normal Power or set of Powers, and add a Power Loss Complication. ==== Sidekicks and Summons: the Minion Advantage, the Sidekick advantage, the Summon power, or flavor? ==== Most of the time, side characters of any kind shouldn't be built as Minions, Sidekicks, or Summon. Instead, build them as flavor for other powers.<blockquote>'''EXAMPLE''' Someone who summons ghosts should, rather than having Summon, have an array of ranged powers with Indirect 4, representing ghosts attacking on their behalf. '''EXAMPLE''' Someone with a helper who feeds them information through an earpiece should, rather than having a Sidekick, should have an Enhanced Trait power giving them extra skills and Advantages, as well as a Complication representing that that helper can be targeted. '''EXAMPLE''' Someone with a robotic drone that they control remotely should, rather than having Summon, have their character sheet be built as the drone, with Immortality representing rebuilding the drone, and a Complication representing their actual self.</blockquote> ==== Steeds: Powers or Vehicles? ==== If, conceptually, you are always on your steed, then it should be a Power, using Removable or a Power Loss Complication to represent that it can take damage or be taken from you. Otherwise, it should be a Vehicle. This applies whether your steed is a flying carpet, a motorcycle, or a flying horse. ==== Moving Homes: Vehicles with Rooms or Headquarters with Moveable? ==== Imagine that your moving home is attacked as part of a game. If, in that scene, you pilot it to avoid dangers in the environment and your allies strike back through windows or using weapons built into the home, it is a Vehicle. If your home is invaded by attackers, and you fight them off within your home itself, it is a Headquarters. 4ac3904953d4022a316801b15783ccd01333fd4f 14 18 32 2024-01-11T18:55:08Z AbyssWatcher 5 AbyssWatcher moved page [[Category:Hypertech]] to [[Category:Overtech]]: Misspelled title wikitext text/x-wiki #REDIRECT [[:Category:Overtech]] d0d2531f37eebef23acb35f8f017cceed834d0ad 0 19 35 2024-01-11T23:30:46Z AbyssWatcher 5 Created page with "Ki - or qi, or chi, or any number of other names - is the energy of a living being that makes it alive. It's a being's lifeforce, its soul, its vital essence. There are many names for ki, and many paths to make it stronger - all, however, follow the same basic rules. Every living being has ki - making it stronger follows several distinct stages, called Realms, as your ki becomes more dense. As your ki becomes stronger, you gain new abilities and can use it in new ways -..." wikitext text/x-wiki Ki - or qi, or chi, or any number of other names - is the energy of a living being that makes it alive. It's a being's lifeforce, its soul, its vital essence. There are many names for ki, and many paths to make it stronger - all, however, follow the same basic rules. Every living being has ki - making it stronger follows several distinct stages, called Realms, as your ki becomes more dense. As your ki becomes stronger, you gain new abilities and can use it in new ways - strengthening your ki is called cultivation. If your ki becomes dense enough, your physical body fades away and you become a being a pure ki - eventually, this reaches the point that your ki is dense enough to bend reality through its metaphysical weight, and your mere existence and action have consequences on reality. Beyond this point, no one knows - some ki users have ascended and left this reality entirely behind. Some say they enter a larger world, some that they simply die - as no one has ever returned, what lays at that point is a complete unknown. == Summary == Ki is the soul and life force of a living being. The process of growing and strengthening your ki is called cultivation, and although there are many different traditions and ways to do so, there are characteristic stages that ki progresses through as it becomes stronger and denser. == Cultivation Realms == Cultivation realms describe the qualities of a person's ki and their ability to command and shape it. Each realm has a characteristic set of abilities not available to those in the realms above it - the following names are not necessarily the only names for these stages or the only way these stages can be grouped, but it represents the most common progression, and these abilities always become available in roughly this order. === The Foundational Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you grow from a normal human to a superhuman martial artist. ==== Characteristics ==== All living things begin in the Foundational Realm (although in some traditions, you enter it the first time you take deliberate action to cultivate your ki). At this point, your lifeforce is normal, everyday ki. It keeps you alive - if your ki is drained, damaged, or blocked, it will cause health issues. ==== How to Cultivate ==== Cultivating in this realm is generally about keeping yourself fit and doing some sort of special exercise that helps build up how much ki you have - different traditions have different exercises that they do, such as particular breathing patterns, katas, or similar. Gaining more ki in this stage makes you more alive and more vital, giving you greater strength and agility even beyond what your normal physical fitness should be able to. It allows a person to leave beyond the limits of a normal person and become superhuman - some highly-trained fighters even reach this point unintentionally. ==== Leaving the Foundational Realm ==== Eventually, you'll start to be able to do more with your ki than just get more of it - you'll learn to sense it and begin to be able to direct it within your body. To leave the Foundational Realm, you must compress it down - rather than loosely filling up every cell of your body, it should center around a dense metaphysical core. If done correctly, your ki will phase-shift and become more solidified, and your core will remain stable. If you don't have enough to hit a certain threshold of density, your core won't be able to hold together - if you force it too strongly, this can even permanently damage your ability to Cultivate. If you succeed, however, you'll enter the Nascent Realm. === The Nascent Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you learn how to manifest your ki as energy blasts, spiritual weapons, and similar effects. ==== Characteristics ==== At this point, your ki is starting to reify and become more than just vague life energy - it's becoming energy that can actually do things. You can even manifest it outside your body, spending it to blast energy at people, or conjure up spiritual weapons. ==== How to Cultivate ==== The same techniques as in the Foundational Realm still work here - however, they're less effective, as there is a greater distance to cover in the Nascent Realm than in the Foundational Realm. Fortunately, if you're bold enough or have enough resources, your ki is stable enough that you can absorb energy from other sources without destabilizing your core. That energy may be the ki of others' ki, elemental energy from the world at large, nearly any sort of energy compressed into a well-made cultivation pill, or similar. Perhaps the quickest way is to eat the hearts and cores of other cultivators - if you ignore the obvious moral and practical issues of doing so. Gaining more ki in this stage continues to make you more superhuman, but cultivation in the Nascent Realm is also about learning to gain master of your ki. ==== Leaving the Nascent Realm ==== The boundary between the Nascent Realm and the Worldly Realm is a thin one, and more a matter of control and mastery than of ki density - a sufficiently talented student may leave the Nascent Realm with less ki than a less talented one. The boundary is generally considered to be sufficient understanding of an element and mastery of your own ki that you can manifest your ki ''as'' that element. === The Worldly Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you learn how to practice elemental martial arts and produce magical effects. Some traditions merge the Worldly Realm with the Nascent Realm. ==== Characteristics ==== In the Worldly Realm, your ki can be temporarily transformed into elements and other energy in order to manifest and control the elements - essentially, you can learn to command the physical world around you. This is the point at which ki and magic begin to resemble each other, and start to have overlapping capabilities. ==== How to Cultivate ==== The same techniques found in the Foundational and Nascent Realms continue to function - however, worldly cultivators tend to focus more on mastering elements in order to deepen their ability to control them. Some cultivators focus on one element to exclusion, which can lead to faster growth of their key as they learn to absorb more energy at once - others spread their focus, mastering multiple elements, which leads to much broader skillsets. ==== Leaving the Worldly Realm ==== At the highest reaches of the Worldly Realm, your core has grown too large to contain within your body, and your ki must make another phase transition - this time, however, you don't make it denser. Instead, you merge your core with your physical form. If your core is not large or dense enough, this can permanently shatter it and leave you in the Foundational Realm and unable to cultivate - this means that a poorly-formed core when entering the Nascent Realm can leave you forever unable to reach the Spiritual Realm. === The Spiritual Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you become an ageless immortal with unconscious reality warping. ==== Characteristics ==== In the Spiritual Realm, your ki is beginning to become denser and more real than your actual body - the farther you progress into the Spiritual Realm, the less you become a physical creature of matter and the more you become a being entirely made of ki. Your mastery of your own ki - which is now your own body - allows you to begin to control your own body in much the same way that a worldly cultivator can control the world around them. Spiritual cultivators can regenerate, shapeshift, their aging will slow to a halt, and their natural form will slowly shift towards their mental image of themself. ==== How to Cultivate ==== Cultivation in this stage is no longer about gathering ki - rather, it focuses on reifying your ki, helping it merge with your body and naturally grow denser and more real. Merely existing will grow your ki enough to push you towards the Divine Realm. Many spiritual cultivators instead attempt to ''prevent'' their ki from growing farther, in order to avoid the Divine Realm. ==== Leaving the Realm ==== In the upper stages of the Spiritual Realm, your ki begins to become weighty enough on a metaphysical level to bend the world around you, even without consciously controlling it to do so. The world around you will begin to reflect your mood and whims, particularly in places where you have authority. The transition to the Divine Realm is a soft one, much like the transition from Nascent to Worldly. The line is often placed at the point where the unconscious reality-warping effect begins to have lasting, far-reaching effects rather than being a local, temporary effect. === The Divine Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you can consciously warp reality, but your existence and actions have far-reaching unintended consequences. Some traditions merge the Divine Realm with the Spiritual Realm, simply as the peak of a single realm. ==== Characteristics ==== Much like the Spiritual Realm, a divine cultivator is no longer a normal mortal - they are closer to a demigod. Existence doesn't just bend around a divine cultivator, it ''breaks.'' A careless word from a divine cultivator can lead to a person rededicating their entire life on your wisdom - a deliberate conversation can change the course of nations - a simple thought can undo a death. There are few limits for a divine cultivator, except those they place on themselves to protect existence. ==== How to Cultivate ==== No further cultivation is necessary or possible at this stage, but many divine cultivators practice to minimize the unintended consequences of their actions, or even seek to return themselves to the Spiritual Realm - this is, however, invariably a fruitless endeavor. ==== Leaving the Divine Realm ==== According to divine cultivators, reaching the next realm is as simple as deciding to do so - however, doing so removes them from the world forever. === Realms Beyond? === The Divine Realm isn't the end - however, what lays beyond it is a mystery. Some believe that a divine cultivator who leaves the world will become a deity, perhaps even ''retroactively'' becoming a deity. Some believe that they merge with the universe at large - some believe there is a larger, greater world than that which humans are bound to, which a divine cultivator enters. However, no one knows for certain. In some traditions, the unknown stage past the Divine Realm is referred to as the Heaven Realm - in others, the Underworld Realm. == Known Techniques == This is not an exhaustive list of techniques - merely suggestions to help a player come up with more ideas of their own. The techniques are sorted by the minimum realm in which they can be used, and include 1 or more inset mechanical builds, which are ''also'' only suggestions. === Foundational Realm === ==== Heaven-and-Earth Breathing ==== A particular breathing technique used by some traditions for students at the upper reaches of the Foundational Realm, before the attempt to form a core. The technique involves guiding your ki in order to form a location for your core - a painful process, but one which greatly improves the chances of successfully forming a core and entering the Nascent Realm with a good foundation to continue from, if done properly, and with fewer consequences if done improperly than forcing a core without such preparation.<blockquote>''Flavor only.''</blockquote> ==== Ki Reading ==== A technique allowing a cultivator to map out the flow of another person's ki through touch, helping to examine their health and diagnose illnesses. This technique is also helpful for cultivators to learn techniques from each other by witnessing the flow of their ki in use more directly.<blockquote>Senses 2: Detect Life (Mental), Acute Detect Life. (2pp) ''Optional: Analytical Detect Life, Enhanced Treatment X''</blockquote> === Nascent Realm === ==== Inedia ==== A technique while helps your body sustain itself entirely on your ki, with little to no need for food or sleep.<blockquote>Trance (1pp) Sustained Immunity 5: Disease, Poison, Starvation and Thirst, Suffocation (All) ''Optional: Immunity (Environmental Conditions)''</blockquote> ==== Kaioken ==== A technique which forces your body to briefly expend a great deal of ki in order to magnify your physical abilities at the cost of greatly fatiguing yourself.<blockquote>Flavor for Extra Effort to gain an action or increase the rank of your Strength, Speed, or a power. ''Optional: Luck (Recover), Extraordinary Effort OR Untapped Potential''</blockquote> ==== Ki Blast ==== Producing a blast of ki from your hands and protecting it at a distance allows you to strike far past your actual reach.<blockquote>Ranged Damage X (2pp/rank) ''Optional: Homing, Multiattack, Precise, Selective (for Multiattack weapons)''</blockquote> ==== Poison Ki ==== Injecting your ki into another person allows you to interfere with their lifeforce more directly than through a physical strike.<blockquote>Strength-Based Damage X, Alternate Resistance: Fortitude (2pp/rank +Strength) ''Optional: Multiattack, Precise, Reversible''</blockquote> ==== Reconstruction ==== By cycling your ki to fuel yourself in combat, you can keep fighting through minor wounds that might build up and overcome a lesser fighter.<blockquote>Sustained Regeneration 10, Limited: Only Bruises (5pp) ''Optional: Persistent''</blockquote> ==== Spiritual Weapon ==== By manifesting your ki, you can conjure a weapon from your own soul.<blockquote>Strength-Based Damage X (1pp/rank) ''Optional: Homing (for ranged weapons), Improved Range or Reach (for thrown weapons, bows, and similar), Multiattack, Penetrating, Precise, Ricochet (for ranged weapons), Selective (for Multiattack weapons), Split, Variable Descriptor 1 (weapons, bludgeoning or piercing/slashing).'' ''Many combat-related advantages are also appropriate for certain weapons.''</blockquote> === Worldly Realm === ==== Spiritual Gate ==== Aligning your ki to the energy of the veil between worlds allows the user to interact with spirits - both those of the dead and the kamis of the natural world.<blockquote>Comprehend 2 (Spirits: Communicate, Spirits: Medium) (4pp) Strength Extra: Affects Insubstantial 2 (2pp)</blockquote> ==== Thousand Mile Cloud ==== A technique which creates a thick, solid cloud that the user can stand on and which moves far faster than a normal person, allowing flight.<blockquote>Platform Flight (1pp/rank)</blockquote> ==== Way of the Elements ==== Manifesting your ki as an element while you fight allows you to take advantage of a foes' weaknesses while avoiding their strengths.<blockquote>Strength Extra: Variable Descriptor 2 (Elements) (2pp) ''Optional: Contagious (for fire or lightning), Penetrating (for earth), Reach (for air), Secondary Effect (for fire)''</blockquote> === Spiritual Realm === ==== Ageless Sage ==== Less a technique and more a quality of the Spiritual Realm, powerful spiritual cultivators cease to age entirely.<blockquote>Immunity 1 (Aging) (1pp)</blockquote> ==== Master of Many Forms ==== By reshaping the ki that makes up your form, a master cultivator can change their appearance to anything they image.<blockquote>Morph 2 or Morph 3 (10pp or 15pp) ''Optional: Increased Duration''</blockquote> ==== Reformation ==== Even if your body is entirely destroyed, you'll return to life.<blockquote>Immortality X (2pp/rank)</blockquote> ==== Regeneration ==== Your ki regains its form naturally, without your attention being required.<blockquote>Regeneration 5 (5pp) ''Optional: Persistent''</blockquote> ==== Soulspace ==== A technique which shapes ki to form a storage space attached to your existence, rather than any physical space or object.<blockquote>Feature X: Storage equal to mass rank (1pp/rank)</blockquote> == Notable Users == [[The Order of the Stone Fist|'''The Order of the Stone Fist''']] '''[[The Order of the Unfettered Gale]]''' == Trivia == The use of ki is similar to magic in many ways (enough to be categorized as Arcane), but is not the same as magic - although their capabilities are similar and both involve manipulation of energy, ki is an internal force, while magic manipulates external forces. [[Category:The Arcane]] 24fa25f6a94b319f3e4acee8c8e5c23e0b4e4e02 36 35 2024-01-11T23:31:59Z AbyssWatcher 5 wikitext text/x-wiki Ki - or qi, or chi, or any number of other names - is the energy of a living being that makes it alive. It's a being's lifeforce, its soul, its vital essence. There are many names for ki, and many paths to make it stronger - all, however, follow the same basic rules. Every living being has ki - making it stronger follows several distinct stages, called Realms, as your ki becomes more dense. As your ki becomes stronger, you gain new abilities and can use it in new ways - strengthening your ki is called cultivation. If your ki becomes dense enough, your physical body fades away and you become a being a pure ki - eventually, this reaches the point that your ki is dense enough to bend reality through its metaphysical weight, and your mere existence and action have consequences on reality. Beyond this point, no one knows - some ki users have ascended and left this reality entirely behind. Some say they enter a larger world, some that they simply die - as no one has ever returned, what lays at that point is a complete unknown. == Summary == Ki is the soul and life force of a living being. The process of growing and strengthening your ki is called cultivation, and although there are many different traditions and ways to do so, there are characteristic stages that ki progresses through as it becomes stronger and denser. == Cultivation Realms == Cultivation realms describe the qualities of a person's ki and their ability to command and shape it. Each realm has a characteristic set of abilities not available to those in the realms above it - the following names are not necessarily the only names for these stages or the only way these stages can be grouped, but it represents the most common progression, and these abilities always become available in roughly this order. === The Foundational Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you grow from a normal human to a superhuman martial artist. ==== Characteristics ==== All living things begin in the Foundational Realm (although in some traditions, you enter it the first time you take deliberate action to cultivate your ki). At this point, your lifeforce is normal, everyday ki. It keeps you alive - if your ki is drained, damaged, or blocked, it will cause health issues. ==== How to Cultivate ==== Cultivating in this realm is generally about keeping yourself fit and doing some sort of special exercise that helps build up how much ki you have - different traditions have different exercises that they do, such as particular breathing patterns, katas, or similar. Gaining more ki in this stage makes you more alive and more vital, giving you greater strength and agility even beyond what your normal physical fitness should be able to. It allows a person to leave beyond the limits of a normal person and become superhuman - some highly-trained fighters even reach this point unintentionally. ==== Leaving the Foundational Realm ==== Eventually, you'll start to be able to do more with your ki than just get more of it - you'll learn to sense it and begin to be able to direct it within your body. To leave the Foundational Realm, you must compress it down - rather than loosely filling up every cell of your body, it should center around a dense metaphysical core. If done correctly, your ki will phase-shift and become more solidified, and your core will remain stable. If you don't have enough to hit a certain threshold of density, your core won't be able to hold together - if you force it too strongly, this can even permanently damage your ability to Cultivate. If you succeed, however, you'll enter the Nascent Realm. === The Nascent Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you learn how to manifest your ki as energy blasts, spiritual weapons, and similar effects. ==== Characteristics ==== At this point, your ki is starting to reify and become more than just vague life energy - it's becoming energy that can actually do things. You can even manifest it outside your body, spending it to blast energy at people, or conjure up spiritual weapons. ==== How to Cultivate ==== The same techniques as in the Foundational Realm still work here - however, they're less effective, as there is a greater distance to cover in the Nascent Realm than in the Foundational Realm. Fortunately, if you're bold enough or have enough resources, your ki is stable enough that you can absorb energy from other sources without destabilizing your core. That energy may be the ki of others' ki, elemental energy from the world at large, nearly any sort of energy compressed into a well-made cultivation pill, or similar. Perhaps the quickest way is to eat the hearts and cores of other cultivators - if you ignore the obvious moral and practical issues of doing so. Gaining more ki in this stage continues to make you more superhuman, but cultivation in the Nascent Realm is also about learning to gain master of your ki. ==== Leaving the Nascent Realm ==== The boundary between the Nascent Realm and the Worldly Realm is a thin one, and more a matter of control and mastery than of ki density - a sufficiently talented student may leave the Nascent Realm with less ki than a less talented one. The boundary is generally considered to be sufficient understanding of an element and mastery of your own ki that you can manifest your ki ''as'' that element. === The Worldly Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you learn how to practice elemental martial arts and produce magical effects. Some traditions merge the Worldly Realm with the Nascent Realm. ==== Characteristics ==== In the Worldly Realm, your ki can be temporarily transformed into elements and other energy in order to manifest and control the elements - essentially, you can learn to command the physical world around you. This is the point at which ki and magic begin to resemble each other, and start to have overlapping capabilities. ==== How to Cultivate ==== The same techniques found in the Foundational and Nascent Realms continue to function - however, worldly cultivators tend to focus more on mastering elements in order to deepen their ability to control them. Some cultivators focus on one element to exclusion, which can lead to faster growth of their key as they learn to absorb more energy at once - others spread their focus, mastering multiple elements, which leads to much broader skillsets. ==== Leaving the Worldly Realm ==== At the highest reaches of the Worldly Realm, your core has grown too large to contain within your body, and your ki must make another phase transition - this time, however, you don't make it denser. Instead, you merge your core with your physical form. If your core is not large or dense enough, this can permanently shatter it and leave you in the Foundational Realm and unable to cultivate - this means that a poorly-formed core when entering the Nascent Realm can leave you forever unable to reach the Spiritual Realm. === The Spiritual Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you become an ageless immortal with unconscious reality warping. ==== Characteristics ==== In the Spiritual Realm, your ki is beginning to become denser and more real than your actual body - the farther you progress into the Spiritual Realm, the less you become a physical creature of matter and the more you become a being entirely made of ki. Your mastery of your own ki - which is now your own body - allows you to begin to control your own body in much the same way that a worldly cultivator can control the world around them. Spiritual cultivators can regenerate, shapeshift, their aging will slow to a halt, and their natural form will slowly shift towards their mental image of themself. ==== How to Cultivate ==== Cultivation in this stage is no longer about gathering ki - rather, it focuses on reifying your ki, helping it merge with your body and naturally grow denser and more real. Merely existing will grow your ki enough to push you towards the Divine Realm. Many spiritual cultivators instead attempt to ''prevent'' their ki from growing farther, in order to avoid the Divine Realm. ==== Leaving the Realm ==== In the upper stages of the Spiritual Realm, your ki begins to become weighty enough on a metaphysical level to bend the world around you, even without consciously controlling it to do so. The world around you will begin to reflect your mood and whims, particularly in places where you have authority. The transition to the Divine Realm is a soft one, much like the transition from Nascent to Worldly. The line is often placed at the point where the unconscious reality-warping effect begins to have lasting, far-reaching effects rather than being a local, temporary effect. === The Divine Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you can consciously warp reality, but your existence and actions have far-reaching unintended consequences. Some traditions merge the Divine Realm with the Spiritual Realm, simply as the peak of a single realm. ==== Characteristics ==== Much like the Spiritual Realm, a divine cultivator is no longer a normal mortal - they are closer to a demigod. Existence doesn't just bend around a divine cultivator, it ''breaks.'' A careless word from a divine cultivator can lead to a person rededicating their entire life on your wisdom - a deliberate conversation can change the course of nations - a simple thought can undo a death. There are few limits for a divine cultivator, except those they place on themselves to protect existence. ==== How to Cultivate ==== No further cultivation is necessary or possible at this stage, but many divine cultivators practice to minimize the unintended consequences of their actions, or even seek to return themselves to the Spiritual Realm - this is, however, invariably a fruitless endeavor. ==== Leaving the Divine Realm ==== According to divine cultivators, reaching the next realm is as simple as deciding to do so - however, doing so removes them from the world forever. === Realms Beyond? === The Divine Realm isn't the end - however, what lays beyond it is a mystery. Some believe that a divine cultivator who leaves the world will become a deity, perhaps even ''retroactively'' becoming a deity. Some believe that they merge with the universe at large - some believe there is a larger, greater world than that which humans are bound to, which a divine cultivator enters. However, no one knows for certain. In some traditions, the unknown stage past the Divine Realm is referred to as the Heaven Realm - in others, the Underworld Realm. == Known Techniques == This is not an exhaustive list of techniques - merely suggestions to help a player come up with more ideas of their own. The techniques are sorted by the minimum realm in which they can be used, and include 1 or more inset mechanical builds, which are ''also'' only suggestions. === Foundational Realm === ==== Heaven-and-Earth Breathing ==== A particular breathing technique used by some traditions for students at the upper reaches of the Foundational Realm, before the attempt to form a core. The technique involves guiding your ki in order to form a location for your core - a painful process, but one which greatly improves the chances of successfully forming a core and entering the Nascent Realm with a good foundation to continue from, if done properly, and with fewer consequences if done improperly than forcing a core without such preparation.<blockquote>''Flavor only.''</blockquote> ==== Ki Reading ==== A technique allowing a cultivator to map out the flow of another person's ki through touch, helping to examine their health and diagnose illnesses. This technique is also helpful for cultivators to learn techniques from each other by witnessing the flow of their ki in use more directly.<blockquote>Senses 2: Detect Life (Mental), Acute Detect Life. (2pp) ''Optional: Analytical Detect Life, Enhanced Treatment X''</blockquote> === Nascent Realm === ==== Inedia ==== A technique while helps your body sustain itself entirely on your ki, with little to no need for food or sleep.<blockquote>Trance (1pp) Sustained Immunity 5: Disease, Poison, Starvation and Thirst, Suffocation (All) ''Optional: Immunity (Environmental Conditions)''</blockquote> ==== Kaioken ==== A technique which forces your body to briefly expend a great deal of ki in order to magnify your physical abilities at the cost of greatly fatiguing yourself.<blockquote>Flavor for Extra Effort to gain an action or increase the rank of your Strength, Speed, or a power. ''Optional: Luck (Recover), Extraordinary Effort OR Untapped Potential''</blockquote> ==== Ki Blast ==== Producing a blast of ki from your hands and protecting it at a distance allows you to strike far past your actual reach.<blockquote>Ranged Damage X (2pp/rank) ''Optional: Homing, Multiattack, Precise, Selective (for Multiattack weapons)''</blockquote> ==== Poison Ki ==== Injecting your ki into another person allows you to interfere with their lifeforce more directly than through a physical strike.<blockquote>Strength-Based Damage X, Alternate Resistance: Fortitude (2pp/rank +Strength) ''Optional: Multiattack, Precise, Reversible''</blockquote> ==== Reconstruction ==== By cycling your ki to fuel yourself in combat, you can keep fighting through minor wounds that might build up and overcome a lesser fighter.<blockquote>Sustained Regeneration 10, Limited: Only Bruises (5pp) ''Optional: Persistent''</blockquote> ==== Spiritual Weapon ==== By manifesting your ki, you can conjure a weapon from your own soul.<blockquote>Strength-Based Damage X (1pp/rank) ''Optional: Homing (for ranged weapons), Improved Range or Reach (for thrown weapons, bows, and similar), Multiattack, Penetrating, Precise, Ricochet (for ranged weapons), Selective (for Multiattack weapons), Split, Variable Descriptor 1 (weapons, bludgeoning or piercing/slashing).'' ''Many combat-related advantages are also appropriate for certain weapons.''</blockquote> === Worldly Realm === ==== Spiritual Gate ==== Aligning your ki to the energy of the veil between worlds allows the user to interact with spirits - both those of the dead and the kamis of the natural world.<blockquote>Comprehend 2 (Spirits: Communicate, Spirits: Medium) (4pp) Strength Extra: Affects Insubstantial 2 (2pp)</blockquote> ==== Thousand Mile Cloud ==== A technique which creates a thick, solid cloud that the user can stand on and which moves far faster than a normal person, allowing flight.<blockquote>Platform Flight (1pp/rank)</blockquote> ==== Way of the Elements ==== Manifesting your ki as an element while you fight allows you to take advantage of a foes' weaknesses while avoiding their strengths.<blockquote>Strength Extra: Variable Descriptor 2 (Elements) (2pp) ''Optional: Contagious (for fire or lightning), Penetrating (for earth), Reach (for air), Secondary Effect (for fire)''</blockquote> === Spiritual Realm === ==== Ageless Sage ==== Less a technique and more a quality of the Spiritual Realm, powerful spiritual cultivators cease to age entirely.<blockquote>Immunity 1 (Aging) (1pp)</blockquote> ==== Master of Many Forms ==== By reshaping the ki that makes up your form, a master cultivator can change their appearance to anything they image.<blockquote>Morph 2 or Morph 3 (10pp or 15pp) ''Optional: Increased Duration''</blockquote> ==== Reformation ==== Even if your body is entirely destroyed, you'll return to life.<blockquote>Immortality X (2pp/rank)</blockquote> ==== Regeneration ==== Your ki regains its form naturally, without your attention being required.<blockquote>Regeneration 5 (5pp) ''Optional: Persistent''</blockquote> ==== Soulspace ==== A technique which shapes ki to form a storage space attached to your existence, rather than any physical space or object.<blockquote>Feature X: Storage equal to mass rank (1pp/rank)</blockquote> == Notable Users == [[The Order of the Stone Fist|'''The Order of the Stone Fist''']] '''[[The Order of the Unfettered Gale]]''' == Trivia == The use of ki is similar to magic in many ways (enough to be categorized as Arcane), but is not the same as magic - although their capabilities are similar and both involve manipulation of energy, ki is an internal force, while magic manipulates external forces. [[Category:The Arcane]] a749ef68339c42ab46345bf05a7c6902f979ec0f 43 36 2024-01-12T04:30:05Z AbyssWatcher 5 /* Kaioken */ wikitext text/x-wiki Ki - or qi, or chi, or any number of other names - is the energy of a living being that makes it alive. It's a being's lifeforce, its soul, its vital essence. There are many names for ki, and many paths to make it stronger - all, however, follow the same basic rules. Every living being has ki - making it stronger follows several distinct stages, called Realms, as your ki becomes more dense. As your ki becomes stronger, you gain new abilities and can use it in new ways - strengthening your ki is called cultivation. If your ki becomes dense enough, your physical body fades away and you become a being a pure ki - eventually, this reaches the point that your ki is dense enough to bend reality through its metaphysical weight, and your mere existence and action have consequences on reality. Beyond this point, no one knows - some ki users have ascended and left this reality entirely behind. Some say they enter a larger world, some that they simply die - as no one has ever returned, what lays at that point is a complete unknown. == Summary == Ki is the soul and life force of a living being. The process of growing and strengthening your ki is called cultivation, and although there are many different traditions and ways to do so, there are characteristic stages that ki progresses through as it becomes stronger and denser. == Cultivation Realms == Cultivation realms describe the qualities of a person's ki and their ability to command and shape it. Each realm has a characteristic set of abilities not available to those in the realms above it - the following names are not necessarily the only names for these stages or the only way these stages can be grouped, but it represents the most common progression, and these abilities always become available in roughly this order. === The Foundational Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you grow from a normal human to a superhuman martial artist. ==== Characteristics ==== All living things begin in the Foundational Realm (although in some traditions, you enter it the first time you take deliberate action to cultivate your ki). At this point, your lifeforce is normal, everyday ki. It keeps you alive - if your ki is drained, damaged, or blocked, it will cause health issues. ==== How to Cultivate ==== Cultivating in this realm is generally about keeping yourself fit and doing some sort of special exercise that helps build up how much ki you have - different traditions have different exercises that they do, such as particular breathing patterns, katas, or similar. Gaining more ki in this stage makes you more alive and more vital, giving you greater strength and agility even beyond what your normal physical fitness should be able to. It allows a person to leave beyond the limits of a normal person and become superhuman - some highly-trained fighters even reach this point unintentionally. ==== Leaving the Foundational Realm ==== Eventually, you'll start to be able to do more with your ki than just get more of it - you'll learn to sense it and begin to be able to direct it within your body. To leave the Foundational Realm, you must compress it down - rather than loosely filling up every cell of your body, it should center around a dense metaphysical core. If done correctly, your ki will phase-shift and become more solidified, and your core will remain stable. If you don't have enough to hit a certain threshold of density, your core won't be able to hold together - if you force it too strongly, this can even permanently damage your ability to Cultivate. If you succeed, however, you'll enter the Nascent Realm. === The Nascent Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you learn how to manifest your ki as energy blasts, spiritual weapons, and similar effects. ==== Characteristics ==== At this point, your ki is starting to reify and become more than just vague life energy - it's becoming energy that can actually do things. You can even manifest it outside your body, spending it to blast energy at people, or conjure up spiritual weapons. ==== How to Cultivate ==== The same techniques as in the Foundational Realm still work here - however, they're less effective, as there is a greater distance to cover in the Nascent Realm than in the Foundational Realm. Fortunately, if you're bold enough or have enough resources, your ki is stable enough that you can absorb energy from other sources without destabilizing your core. That energy may be the ki of others' ki, elemental energy from the world at large, nearly any sort of energy compressed into a well-made cultivation pill, or similar. Perhaps the quickest way is to eat the hearts and cores of other cultivators - if you ignore the obvious moral and practical issues of doing so. Gaining more ki in this stage continues to make you more superhuman, but cultivation in the Nascent Realm is also about learning to gain master of your ki. ==== Leaving the Nascent Realm ==== The boundary between the Nascent Realm and the Worldly Realm is a thin one, and more a matter of control and mastery than of ki density - a sufficiently talented student may leave the Nascent Realm with less ki than a less talented one. The boundary is generally considered to be sufficient understanding of an element and mastery of your own ki that you can manifest your ki ''as'' that element. === The Worldly Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you learn how to practice elemental martial arts and produce magical effects. Some traditions merge the Worldly Realm with the Nascent Realm. ==== Characteristics ==== In the Worldly Realm, your ki can be temporarily transformed into elements and other energy in order to manifest and control the elements - essentially, you can learn to command the physical world around you. This is the point at which ki and magic begin to resemble each other, and start to have overlapping capabilities. ==== How to Cultivate ==== The same techniques found in the Foundational and Nascent Realms continue to function - however, worldly cultivators tend to focus more on mastering elements in order to deepen their ability to control them. Some cultivators focus on one element to exclusion, which can lead to faster growth of their key as they learn to absorb more energy at once - others spread their focus, mastering multiple elements, which leads to much broader skillsets. ==== Leaving the Worldly Realm ==== At the highest reaches of the Worldly Realm, your core has grown too large to contain within your body, and your ki must make another phase transition - this time, however, you don't make it denser. Instead, you merge your core with your physical form. If your core is not large or dense enough, this can permanently shatter it and leave you in the Foundational Realm and unable to cultivate - this means that a poorly-formed core when entering the Nascent Realm can leave you forever unable to reach the Spiritual Realm. === The Spiritual Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you become an ageless immortal with unconscious reality warping. ==== Characteristics ==== In the Spiritual Realm, your ki is beginning to become denser and more real than your actual body - the farther you progress into the Spiritual Realm, the less you become a physical creature of matter and the more you become a being entirely made of ki. Your mastery of your own ki - which is now your own body - allows you to begin to control your own body in much the same way that a worldly cultivator can control the world around them. Spiritual cultivators can regenerate, shapeshift, their aging will slow to a halt, and their natural form will slowly shift towards their mental image of themself. ==== How to Cultivate ==== Cultivation in this stage is no longer about gathering ki - rather, it focuses on reifying your ki, helping it merge with your body and naturally grow denser and more real. Merely existing will grow your ki enough to push you towards the Divine Realm. Many spiritual cultivators instead attempt to ''prevent'' their ki from growing farther, in order to avoid the Divine Realm. ==== Leaving the Realm ==== In the upper stages of the Spiritual Realm, your ki begins to become weighty enough on a metaphysical level to bend the world around you, even without consciously controlling it to do so. The world around you will begin to reflect your mood and whims, particularly in places where you have authority. The transition to the Divine Realm is a soft one, much like the transition from Nascent to Worldly. The line is often placed at the point where the unconscious reality-warping effect begins to have lasting, far-reaching effects rather than being a local, temporary effect. === The Divine Realm === ==== Summary ==== In this realm, you can consciously warp reality, but your existence and actions have far-reaching unintended consequences. Some traditions merge the Divine Realm with the Spiritual Realm, simply as the peak of a single realm. ==== Characteristics ==== Much like the Spiritual Realm, a divine cultivator is no longer a normal mortal - they are closer to a demigod. Existence doesn't just bend around a divine cultivator, it ''breaks.'' A careless word from a divine cultivator can lead to a person rededicating their entire life on your wisdom - a deliberate conversation can change the course of nations - a simple thought can undo a death. There are few limits for a divine cultivator, except those they place on themselves to protect existence. ==== How to Cultivate ==== No further cultivation is necessary or possible at this stage, but many divine cultivators practice to minimize the unintended consequences of their actions, or even seek to return themselves to the Spiritual Realm - this is, however, invariably a fruitless endeavor. ==== Leaving the Divine Realm ==== According to divine cultivators, reaching the next realm is as simple as deciding to do so - however, doing so removes them from the world forever. === Realms Beyond? === The Divine Realm isn't the end - however, what lays beyond it is a mystery. Some believe that a divine cultivator who leaves the world will become a deity, perhaps even ''retroactively'' becoming a deity. Some believe that they merge with the universe at large - some believe there is a larger, greater world than that which humans are bound to, which a divine cultivator enters. However, no one knows for certain. In some traditions, the unknown stage past the Divine Realm is referred to as the Heaven Realm - in others, the Underworld Realm. == Known Techniques == This is not an exhaustive list of techniques - merely suggestions to help a player come up with more ideas of their own. The techniques are sorted by the minimum realm in which they can be used, and include 1 or more inset mechanical builds, which are ''also'' only suggestions. === Foundational Realm === ==== Heaven-and-Earth Breathing ==== A particular breathing technique used by some traditions for students at the upper reaches of the Foundational Realm, before the attempt to form a core. The technique involves guiding your ki in order to form a location for your core - a painful process, but one which greatly improves the chances of successfully forming a core and entering the Nascent Realm with a good foundation to continue from, if done properly, and with fewer consequences if done improperly than forcing a core without such preparation.<blockquote>''Flavor only.''</blockquote> ==== Ki Reading ==== A technique allowing a cultivator to map out the flow of another person's ki through touch, helping to examine their health and diagnose illnesses. This technique is also helpful for cultivators to learn techniques from each other by witnessing the flow of their ki in use more directly.<blockquote>Senses 2: Detect Life (Mental), Acute Detect Life. (2pp) ''Optional: Analytical Detect Life, Enhanced Treatment X''</blockquote> === Nascent Realm === ==== Inedia ==== A technique while helps your body sustain itself entirely on your ki, with little to no need for food or sleep.<blockquote>Trance (1pp) Sustained Immunity 5: Disease, Poison, Starvation and Thirst, Suffocation (All) ''Optional: Immunity (Environmental Conditions)''</blockquote> ==== Ki Burn ==== A technique which forces your body to briefly expend a great deal of ki in order to magnify your physical abilities at the cost of greatly fatiguing yourself.<blockquote>Flavor for Extra Effort to gain an action or increase the rank of your Strength, Speed, or a power. ''Optional: Luck (Recover), Extraordinary Effort OR Untapped Potential''</blockquote> ==== Ki Blast ==== Producing a blast of ki from your hands and protecting it at a distance allows you to strike far past your actual reach.<blockquote>Ranged Damage X (2pp/rank) ''Optional: Homing, Multiattack, Precise, Selective (for Multiattack weapons)''</blockquote> ==== Poison Ki ==== Injecting your ki into another person allows you to interfere with their lifeforce more directly than through a physical strike.<blockquote>Strength-Based Damage X, Alternate Resistance: Fortitude (2pp/rank +Strength) ''Optional: Multiattack, Precise, Reversible''</blockquote> ==== Reconstruction ==== By cycling your ki to fuel yourself in combat, you can keep fighting through minor wounds that might build up and overcome a lesser fighter.<blockquote>Sustained Regeneration 10, Limited: Only Bruises (5pp) ''Optional: Persistent''</blockquote> ==== Spiritual Weapon ==== By manifesting your ki, you can conjure a weapon from your own soul.<blockquote>Strength-Based Damage X (1pp/rank) ''Optional: Homing (for ranged weapons), Improved Range or Reach (for thrown weapons, bows, and similar), Multiattack, Penetrating, Precise, Ricochet (for ranged weapons), Selective (for Multiattack weapons), Split, Variable Descriptor 1 (weapons, bludgeoning or piercing/slashing).'' ''Many combat-related advantages are also appropriate for certain weapons.''</blockquote> === Worldly Realm === ==== Spiritual Gate ==== Aligning your ki to the energy of the veil between worlds allows the user to interact with spirits - both those of the dead and the kamis of the natural world.<blockquote>Comprehend 2 (Spirits: Communicate, Spirits: Medium) (4pp) Strength Extra: Affects Insubstantial 2 (2pp)</blockquote> ==== Thousand Mile Cloud ==== A technique which creates a thick, solid cloud that the user can stand on and which moves far faster than a normal person, allowing flight.<blockquote>Platform Flight (1pp/rank)</blockquote> ==== Way of the Elements ==== Manifesting your ki as an element while you fight allows you to take advantage of a foes' weaknesses while avoiding their strengths.<blockquote>Strength Extra: Variable Descriptor 2 (Elements) (2pp) ''Optional: Contagious (for fire or lightning), Penetrating (for earth), Reach (for air), Secondary Effect (for fire)''</blockquote> === Spiritual Realm === ==== Ageless Sage ==== Less a technique and more a quality of the Spiritual Realm, powerful spiritual cultivators cease to age entirely.<blockquote>Immunity 1 (Aging) (1pp)</blockquote> ==== Master of Many Forms ==== By reshaping the ki that makes up your form, a master cultivator can change their appearance to anything they image.<blockquote>Morph 2 or Morph 3 (10pp or 15pp) ''Optional: Increased Duration''</blockquote> ==== Reformation ==== Even if your body is entirely destroyed, you'll return to life.<blockquote>Immortality X (2pp/rank)</blockquote> ==== Regeneration ==== Your ki regains its form naturally, without your attention being required.<blockquote>Regeneration 5 (5pp) ''Optional: Persistent''</blockquote> ==== Soulspace ==== A technique which shapes ki to form a storage space attached to your existence, rather than any physical space or object.<blockquote>Feature X: Storage equal to mass rank (1pp/rank)</blockquote> == Notable Users == [[The Order of the Stone Fist|'''The Order of the Stone Fist''']] '''[[The Order of the Unfettered Gale]]''' == Trivia == The use of ki is similar to magic in many ways (enough to be categorized as Arcane), but is not the same as magic - although their capabilities are similar and both involve manipulation of energy, ki is an internal force, while magic manipulates external forces. 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